My DH and I are not very mainstream, and our convictions are stronger now that we have a DD. My family, on the other hand, is completely mainstream and we are finding it really hard already, and our DD is only 4 months!
Let me emphasize that I get along really well with my family and I really want strong r/ships and I want my DD to know her grandparents, aunts, and cousins.
Some issues we disagree on:
- consumerism/materialism - this is the big one. my DH and I are trying to live simply and reject consumerism and materialism. we want minimal "stuff" and limited access to TV and other forms of media, especially for DD. My parents especially are always giving us things we dont' want or need! they are middle/upper class and are always bringing toys, clothes, etc that we just don't need. they all have the philosophy "the more the better" adn they cant understand our position. we also asked for no plastic toys and dd got lots of plastic toys for christmas
- parenting style - we are pretty AP, extended bf, CDs, babywearing, gentle discipline, no CIO, etc. My sister is mainstream and I feel like she wants to be a "big sister" and give me all kinds of advice but she is so different than me.
- nutrition - we are very all natural, organic, etc whereas my family is very SAD (standard american diet). my sisters said they will kidnap my kids one day and feed them junk food (on a side note, why do people think you're depriving your kids if you don't give them junk food??)
- we are very committed to our religion and it's very important to us to bring up our children according to our religious faith. Most of my family is not really into religion and thinks we are just uptight with some things.
Can anyone relate? All of my family is within 2 hours of us so we see them all the time. i enjoy spending time with them but it's frustrating because sometimes i feel like they will undermine our efforts to bring up our children the way we want.
Let me emphasize that I get along really well with my family and I really want strong r/ships and I want my DD to know her grandparents, aunts, and cousins.
Some issues we disagree on:
- consumerism/materialism - this is the big one. my DH and I are trying to live simply and reject consumerism and materialism. we want minimal "stuff" and limited access to TV and other forms of media, especially for DD. My parents especially are always giving us things we dont' want or need! they are middle/upper class and are always bringing toys, clothes, etc that we just don't need. they all have the philosophy "the more the better" adn they cant understand our position. we also asked for no plastic toys and dd got lots of plastic toys for christmas
- parenting style - we are pretty AP, extended bf, CDs, babywearing, gentle discipline, no CIO, etc. My sister is mainstream and I feel like she wants to be a "big sister" and give me all kinds of advice but she is so different than me.
- nutrition - we are very all natural, organic, etc whereas my family is very SAD (standard american diet). my sisters said they will kidnap my kids one day and feed them junk food (on a side note, why do people think you're depriving your kids if you don't give them junk food??)
- we are very committed to our religion and it's very important to us to bring up our children according to our religious faith. Most of my family is not really into religion and thinks we are just uptight with some things.
Can anyone relate? All of my family is within 2 hours of us so we see them all the time. i enjoy spending time with them but it's frustrating because sometimes i feel like they will undermine our efforts to bring up our children the way we want.