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Remember the popular TV commercial featuring Woodwards Gripe Water for babies that depicted at least three generations of mothers telling the younger lot to pacify a wailing baby with the gripe water? It was quite a natural way of making a point that simple hacks to handle babies are passed down through the generations – often taking a seat as ‘grandma’s book of wisdom’.
Ask a septuagenarian for instance, about a situation where she proves herself as an able mother. She will tell you how she did it differently from you – in fact, she would put moms of your generation (you included) at the lowest pedestal. Accept it or discard it, but here’s where they make a point. They love telling that they were the best moms. You might even get immune to hearing it again and again, but honey, don’t be surprised if some of the followings made quite the rant:
1. Because you can’t bend yourself to pick that stuff from the floor doesn’t mean that it is not clean.
Yes. The other day there were chips all over under the car seats, but in the little box-like arrangement for a preggo that a car offers, don’t even expect a 45-degree bend unless you wanted me to harm my child.
2. We used to have fresh home-made food in our times. There’s nothing worth appreciating about the frozen foods.
I agree, life for you must have been harder then. But I am, too, making some effort. I am buying frozen vegetables and cooking a meal, instead of simply taking a frozen ready-to-eat meal home. Shouldn’t I be patted on my back for doing myself this favor?
3. I wouldn’t eat pickles or anything spicy and pass it down to my baby.
Don’t tell me, granny that you didn’t have bizarre food cravings. Unearthly timing and unceremonious eating are the order of the day for any preggo gal. Indulging in a sour binge is not committing a crime. I’d rather introduce my baby to all flavors right when it’s in the womb, as long as I know I am not overdoing it.
4. I would be ok reusing that baggy outfit I wore only for a few hours. I know we could sniff the odor from it, but it’s because we are susceptible to odors during pregnancy. Otherwise they are just perfect for running errands.
Now, who told you that we don’t have a washing machine, granny? You might be happy scrapping off that little spit up on your shirt, but I’d not only want to wash them, but also use a fabric conditioner for better fragrance and maintenance. Doesn’t ruin your hands anyway.
5. Why do you need a nursing bra when you need to keep changing so often!
Just because I have saggy boobs doesn’t mean that I don’t need my bra, that too a nursing bra when my baby is still on my feed. Yes, there is no limitation on how many times I feed my baby, so there is no limitation on how many of them I would need or how many times a week I would change. So long as they are washed and hygienic for the mother-child duo, it’s fine.
6. I would applaud homemade cleaning products.
And get scars and blisters on your hands. Wonder what’s wrong with using Lysol. OK, alright, Dettol existed in your days too. How about that! Vinegar is just too acidic for your hands, don’t you think? By the way, I don’t get unnerved at the smells of the commercial antiseptics.
7. Why do you have to go to the gym as a nursing mother? I wonder if you work out there or use the box-room as the baby-changing room.
If I took my baby there, I would. But excuse me, I have asked you to babysit for an hour while I am away trying to shed the extra flab from pregnancy. Call for some cooperation.
Some of the advice from older generations seems to fall on deaf ears. But some we lap in. How about you? What were the funniest remarks you had from the old gen ladies?
