Judge Me

 Dear Random Lady,

Yes, it may seem a little late to be out with a baby. Thank you for pointing that out to me.  While you were busy being judgmental, you probably didn't consider this:

1. I am with my children ALL the time.  That's three kids under three.

2. Once a month, I get a few hours away to attend my Twin's Club Meeting.  That's where I was when you saw me out with the baby.  I usually get that night all to myself, but I had to bring the baby because my husband was out of town. 

3.  #2  means I was a single parent for a couple of days.  That also means I deserve a break.

4.  I couldn't miss the meeting (and didn't want to) because I was being sworn in as the president-elect.

5. #4 means I actually get to feel like I have a purpose beyond being a mom/housewife. 

6.  Right before I left the house, my baby spit up all over me.

7.  I didn't go back upstairs to change because it would mean upsetting the two year old twins I had just sneaked away from. (For the record, why isn't it snuck?  Snuck sounds so much better to me).

8. I just had the most amazing time with a group of women I am lucky to call friends.  I'd rather not have that ruined by your judgmental comment. 

9.  My baby is smiling. . . clearly she's not so upset about being out late.

10.  I don't make parenting choices that "look good" to others.

Looking forward to serving on the board with these ladies

If you don't like that my baby is out at night, you probably won't like these things either:

1. Sometimes my kids go in public with crap on their faces.  I swear we wipe them off, but inevitably I look at one of them and they're dirty.

2. My toddlers may scream when they are unhappy.  It's not ideal when this happens in public, but we don't give in to their tantrums. Scream away little ones . . .

3. I will give my kids candy so I can get some shopping done.

4. Sometimes they get hurt doing something they're not supposed to and I don't feel bad for them.  What did they think was going to happen???

5. I let them play outside in their pajamas.

6. We put them to bed without brushing their teeth sometimes.

7. Some days they watch a little extra tv because I have run out of energy.

8.  Eventually they'll stop eating non-toxic play-doh, paint, crayons. . . I can only tell them to stop so many times.

9. My kids rarely eat their vegetables.

10. Some days, bedtime is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

There, lady, I've just given you a whole bunch of reasons to judge my parenting skills.  While you're busy with that, I'm going to go right on doing what I'm doing.

Eliana soaking up snuggles from expert mommies at the meeting