What Kind Of Mom Are You Going To Be?

As I approach the middle of my second pregnancy, I can’t help but feel like I am way more prepared for this child. I finally feel like I have this whole “Mom” thing down. But oh how I remember when I was first pregnant with my daughter, Daisy…

In between irrational thoughts of freak accidents and fears of something happening to my pregnancy, I constantly thought about what kind of mom I would be. What would my personal parenting brand represent? Would I be a helicopter parent? A Tiger Mom? Would I cook all of my baby’s food from scratch? Or would I just buy the pre-made stuff? What about drugs? Did I want an epidural? What kind of mom car would I drive? My current 1989 Toyota Corolla wasn’t a place for a baby. Maybe I’d go the Safe Mom route and get a Volvo. But I’d had a BMW X5 on my vision board since 2008. I could also go the cool Hippie Mom way and get a Toyota Hybrid. So many options. I just knew that I definitely did NOT want a minivan. My mom, Donna, had a minivan for us growing up. Even though she could seat 7, the embarrassment I felt at the pick-up loop at school was not worth it. I decided to make a list:

Hippie Mom

• Hybrid car or move to a city with public transport.
• Other option – move to small town where we walk or ride push bikes.
• Grow all of our own food, have a great compost pile
• No vaccines
• Natural water birth at home

Safe Mom

• Volvo SUV
• Live in a gated community
• Only buy organic food
• Yes Vaccines
• Monitored birth at a private hospital

Dangerous Mom

• Motorcycle
• Lives next to an unfenced body of water
• ONLY feeds kids candy bars and fizzy drinks
• What are vaccines?
• Toilet birth

Cool Mom

• BMW X5 SUV
• Live in an awesome renovated home
• Buys organic food, but is also down to order Dominos
• Yes to vaccines
• Birth is birth – open to drugs

Donna Mom

• Mini Van
• Lives in lots of different homes
• Loves fancy food and fast food
• Yes to vaccines
• C-sections

Turns out, I’m a Summer Mom – a nice and healthy mix of all of those types.  I vaccinated my baby, breastfed her for 13 months, let her have chocolate, fed her super healthy food, but also sometimes microwaved heavily processed mashed potatoes (and ate half of them because that much butter is always right.) I put her in daycare two days a week so I could continue to focus on my career. Two turned in to five and that’s okay. I really couldn’t have planned what type of parent I would be. It just happened.

For all of your pregnant women out there – don’t stress about what type of mom society tells you to be. Just do you and what makes you and your baby happy and healthy humans!

I’m also proud to state that I’ve only showed signs of becoming a Stage Mom twice…so far.

(Image via Babble.)