Hey all! Not as young as some of you but I feel like a newbie compared to other mamas in my area! I am 25 and had my son a week after my 22 bday. We are both scorpios so things get a little intense
My son was born in a small mountain town where mamas were of all ages and very natural-minded; alternative thinking was mainstream actually. We moved just west of Chicago a year ago and while it is very AP etc. it is quite conservative/traditional in some aspects. Most of the mamas I see are my mom's age, and were finished with grad school, have careers, homes and rings way before they have children. It is really interesting to me, considering the environment where I became a mama, and also since my own extended family considers late teens to early twenties to be the official time to start a family. When I got pregnant, my grandma and my mom said "Well, you are certainly old enough!" I have at times struggles with feeling respected as a mother here, and at times I compare myself to other more mature moms and feel like I'm so behind. I think sometimes people are just curious though, and who knows, maybe they are impressed by how well someone so much younger deals with the day to day parenting issues. I think there are pros and cons to having kids earlier or later in life, and no matter when you decide to have children it is a challenge and something that no one is 100% prepared for. There is nothing like it and it is wonderful
I am also so glad that my son has so much family since there is a 20year age gap between all the generations in my family. My son even has a great great grandma who he knows and loves and even helps take care of!
My son was born in a small mountain town where mamas were of all ages and very natural-minded; alternative thinking was mainstream actually. We moved just west of Chicago a year ago and while it is very AP etc. it is quite conservative/traditional in some aspects. Most of the mamas I see are my mom's age, and were finished with grad school, have careers, homes and rings way before they have children. It is really interesting to me, considering the environment where I became a mama, and also since my own extended family considers late teens to early twenties to be the official time to start a family. When I got pregnant, my grandma and my mom said "Well, you are certainly old enough!" I have at times struggles with feeling respected as a mother here, and at times I compare myself to other more mature moms and feel like I'm so behind. I think sometimes people are just curious though, and who knows, maybe they are impressed by how well someone so much younger deals with the day to day parenting issues. I think there are pros and cons to having kids earlier or later in life, and no matter when you decide to have children it is a challenge and something that no one is 100% prepared for. There is nothing like it and it is wonderful I am also so glad that my son has so much family since there is a 20year age gap between all the generations in my family. My son even has a great great grandma who he knows and loves and even helps take care of!
He's 7 1/2 months old too...
We plan on extended breastfeeding, cosleeping, babywearing, gentle discipline, cloth diapering, non-circing, and very delayed/selective vaccinating.
