Okay, before I begin my little rant I will say that I love my mother in law. My husband's parents have been, for the most part, very helpful and supportive of our lives. We are greatful to have such caring parents in our lives (especially since my parents are not in the picture).
But right now, my mother in law is driving me crazy. And I know that everyone has different opinions about the issues below, but all that aside...
She tells me I can't paint my toenails because I might hurt the baby. My OB thinks it's fine to have an occassional pedicure as long as I use low-fume nail polish (which I already use) in a well ventilated area. My MIL thinks my OB is wrong.
She says I'm not allowed to wear high heels because I might trip and injure/kill the baby. I've never worn stillettos in my life, but I do wear kitten heeled mary janes from time to time. I move about as fast as a sloth these days, so I don't think I have a higher trip risk in low heels.
I am not allowed to have even a sip of wine. I know opinion varies on this topic, but my husband and I feel that a small (one to two ounce) glass of low-alcohol wine every once in a great while (certainly not more than a once or twice a month) is fine for our pregnancy. We've read medical studies and pro/con-ed both approaches. I didn't drink at all during the first trimester. She's convinced that we'll have a completely disabled child if I even smell alcohol, despite independent medical studies that show that light drinking during the last two trimesters can actually have beneficial effects, not harmful ones.
And then today she freaked out on us about a curio cabinet. I want to get my husband a curio cabinet that he wants for his miniature figures (he's an accomplished painter) from Ikea. As all curio cabinets do, it has glass sides. My mother in law thinks that if we have one in the house the child will knock on it, the glass will shatter and the child will be horribly maimed.
Come on now. First of all, even though this is my first child, I am not a complete idiot. I have common sense. Obviously I will teach my child not to knock on glass and that glass furniture is not a plaything. I grew up around glass and furniture and didn't kill myself. I learned appropriate indoor behavior (no running, no hitting breakable things, no climbing up bookcases/curio cabinets, etc.) and I plan to pass that same type of knowledge onto my child. I know accidents happen, but we can not bubble wrap our entire home or our child. We can do our best to make sure we have a reasonably safe environment and teach our child how to live in it.
Despite not having had a child before this one, I think I can do that. I just feel like every little thing I think or plan to do as a parent she thinks is completely wrong. That I don't know any better, and because of that I'm going to inadvertently get my child seriously hurt or killed. This lack of faith in my parenting ability - and I know that I don't know it all - I will have to learn a lot as I go, I know - really insults me and hurts my feelings.
Maybe I'm over reacting, but it upsets me, and I needed to vent about it. Thanks for listening to my little rant.
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