Doing My Best: An Ode To Mommyhood
Doing our best… It’s something that we all believe is enough in theory, but in practice we still many times go through a range of emotions. As parents it’s inevitable, right? We do our best for our kids, teaching them in the process that their best is good enough… or not. It’s a theme that’s been coming up again and again in my life and something that I thought that you, our lovely readers could relate to, so I just wanted to take some time to share what’s been going on here.
We’ve been going through some great transitions here as a family at Chez Bellaziza… most notably a change of well, chez! We made our big move from Texas back to New York and just 3 weeks ago moved into the house of my dreams. She’s 100 years old, but the girl’s got good bones! Sounds like a nice thing to say about a beautiful old Victorian, right? Hehe! Just before the move I read that death, divorce and moving are the three hardest things to go through… and I didn’t believe it before… but I do now! Thank God things are just starting to settle down:).
I had been posting my “Crista Goes Cloth” segments a while back and know there are definitely some of you wondering if cloth stuck. Well, it did… kind of. I did my best. Through moving? No. When we go out? No. But at home, where we are most of the time, absolutely! Unless for some reason I don’t…. but I usually do. I love the three-day-wash of the ones we’re using too. Let’s just say it makes it doable:). I feel a little greener with each disposable that I don’t need. Go green! Just me doing my best here.
Doing my best, often translates in my mind into giving my family the best. That’s much of the premise of this blog. I have always been a huge supporter and believer in breastfeeding being the only best way to go… but sometimes your best just isn’t enough. That’s been my experience recently anyway. It’s been so emotional too! I found myself in the formula aisle looking absolutely lost the other day when I realized that it was just something that I was going to have to do. Was breastfeeding Camilla about her or about me afterall? Breast is best, but when your girls aren’t cooperating and baby’s hungry and increasingly irritable, something’s got to change. It was quite literally the first time I had ever even thought about formula. Naturally, I looked to which one was the most expensive, thinking it probably sucked the least, and bought it. It did the trick until I found the wonderful formula that we’re happily using now.
Later that night I looked online and researched formula… a lot. DHA? ARA? Cow’s milk? Soy? Lactose free? Powder? Liquid concentrate? Plastic bottle? One of these is supposed to make my kid smarter?? Arghhhhh!!!! TOO MUCH! It took a long time, but I finally found what I have come up with as the absolute best option for moms and babies who just aren’t able to breastfeed… or who need to supplement with formula (*raises hand*) and breastfeed as much as you can. It’s called Baby’s Only Organic and it’s made by an organic pediatric medical food company called Nature’s One. If you’re asking what’s the difference between their organic formula (being an organic pediatric medical food company) and the other mass marketed brands, I’ll be sharing more about that a little later. There is a huge difference though and one that makes all of the difference in the world to a mom who can’t supply what’s best. It’s been a little emotional here:).
I just wanted to let everyone know what’s been going on though with our big move, why things have been a little slower than normal here on BFT (but no less fabulous!! Is it the Summer of Strollers here or WHAT?!?!) and also the info on our choice for Camilla’s formula. With all of my recent research on formula, I felt I needed to get the info up fast so that if any of you were going through the same thing, that you would have our findings to benefit from too.
Doing our best and giving our kids the best is something we all strive for, but in the end, I really feel at peace with just what is MY best. My girls will grow up seeing me make mistakes, solve problems, be resourceful, maybe not quite measure up, succeed gloriously and everything else in between. In the end they’ll love me the same too I think:). That’s mommyhood. It’s not always what we think it will be, but we do our best in spite of circumstance, and both learn and teach from the experience.
