BritMums Prompt: My Pet Peeve

Oct 5, 2011 by cafebebemama

Another BritMums Prompt that happens to resonate with me: My Pet Peeve! What, me? Rant? Never!?! Hahahahahahahaha. Ooh, that’s a good one. In fact, I think I really should change the name of this blog to Cafe Rantsalot! I think I may know where I get it from but I won’t mention any names.

So this week, BritMums provided the blogosphere with two prompts. One was about social networking and the other was the Pet Peeve prompt. I am choosing the Pet Peeve prompt but my challenge is settling on ONE!

I could rant about how much I hate cold-call telemarketers. How much I hate their insane intrusion on my day. How pointless their calls are to my life. How exceptionally RUDE and NASTY I am to them when they do manage to intrude on my day. But we’ll let them slide.

I could rant about how frustrated I am with my local NHS surgery and doctors who continue to string me along with this bloomin’ kidney infection. I could rant about how no one seems to be curing me of my pain and discomfort. I could rant about the lack of communication, care or urgency of my surgery. I could rant about the fact that our 2 midwives don’t work on Wednesdays. I could rant about a lot of things that have been going on with this pregnancy and my antenatal care for the past 4+ weeks. But we’ll let them slide.

I could rant about the fact that our 30 year old oven finally died this week. I could rant about the fact that I’ve had to microwave or toast everything we’ve eaten for the last 3 days. I could rant about the fact that we’ve had to charge shell out £200 for a new oven. But I won’t because this means that I get a new oven, it’s being delivered today and I’m exceptionally impressed with the customer service of Appliances Online so I no longer feel the urge to rant about this situation. Wonder of wonders!

Instead I am going to rant about perfection. Specifically perfection in parenting. You know what really gets my goat (why goat??)? When parents pretend that they are the perfect parent, have the perfect child, feed their perfect child only natural, organic ingredients, have their children in bed by 6pm and they don’t wake until 8am and then spend the night in blissful harmony with their partners before retiring to bed for 8 hours of uninterrupted, restorative sleep. These same parents spend every non-child moment tending to the house, keeping every speck of dust at bay, never have dirty dishes or clothes laying about and have total control and organisation throughout the house. These same parents spend every child-filled moment without the telly on, dutifully creating collages, reading well above age-level, baking, painting and educating their perfectly receptive and dilligent child(ren). What a load of crap! Seriously, this can’t exist! I don’t get it! Do people really live like this is or this just a giant facade they put up to make us believe they are the perfect parent?

I much prefer our way of parenting and living. A bit of dirt (not too much mind you…I do enjoy clean), the odd plate and bowl on the counter, take-away pizza once a week, potato waffles at the ready, telly permanently tuned to Cbeebies (not on ALL of the time, mind you), independent play while Mummy blogs (what?) and loads more happiness and smiles all around.

There. I feel better now. I’m not a perfect mother. I know I could do better but I also have a very confident daughter who is capable of entertaining herself, who is ridiculously verbal and intelligent and is clean and presentable almost all of the time. Yes, our house could be cleaner. Yes, I could dust more often. Yes, I could change the bed linens every week (what?). But you know what? Our family works just fine the way it is. So thhhhpppptttt to all of you PERFECT parents. We’re happy chez Cafe Bebe…just the way we are.

Pop on over to BritMums to see some of the other brilliant bloggers who have taken on one or both blogging prompts this week.