Lazy Moms

A Mom who belongs to a Yahoo Group that I am a part of recently mentioned that her feeding decisions were based on her laziness. I'd like to second that. Laziness and cheapness (or, hem, frugality?) have influenced so many of my parenting decisions. In the frugal department, I sort of made it my goal to see how few baby items I could accumulate. Really didn't want to spend extra money on themed nursery gear.... As far as my laziness goes, I always figured that if my kid could do something for herself, then why should I baby her more than I already do?

I mean, kids are supposed to be babies in some ways (nursing, sleep habits, etc) but why extend parts of that babyhood rather than teaching them grown-up habits like eating for themselves (with a fork! -- drives me nuts when restaurant servers don't bring a set of silverware for my kids, but I suppose many people don't give their kids forks this early...), drinking from a cup (15 mos), helping to clean up spills they've made, or putting away their toys. And it helps that if you're nursing your kid, you don't have to worry about him getting all and enough of the right nutrients from food.

However, lest anyone fear are putting ourselves down by using the word "lazy" (as my brother told me, "lazy Mom" is an oxymoron), may I suggest that we are simply unwilling to make raising children harder than it is by introducing all sorts of intermediate steps (depending on the parent, pureed food, a crib, sippy cups... though I admit to doing some of these at times and not others, whatever makes the situation easier at the time) or by forcing "independence" earlier than necessary. And one Mom's lazy list will look different than another's, so please do not take offense at my list or assume that it is complete or preferred. All that said, I also don't like to contrive politically correct words for things, so I am still going to refer to myself as lazy.

Here's to all my fellow lazy Moms!