typealice

1 | Ashley

October 25th, 2008 at 7:49 am

May I offer a replacement blog? (While not a mommyblog, it’s one of my faves).

http://www.ethicurean.com/

2 | typealice

October 25th, 2008 at 7:51 am

I’m always looking for new blogs to read! I’ll check this one out. Thanks!!

3 | Ashley

October 25th, 2008 at 7:55 am

Yer welcome. There’s a great one on there of drawings done by one of the writers kids. It’s called The Pollan Series (for Michael Pollan) I think? There’s one of chickens on a processing belt that reads “Is this Magic Mountain?” Very clever, very powerful.

And you know, I have read the Sundry blog a couple times (found her through you) and I find her really negative. She’s funny, her writing is good, her cussing is relieving BUT her tone (not to mention the CIO) just doesn’t work for me. I know we all have moments where we want to throttle our children and pray for bedtime but it seems like every other entry for her.

4 | typealice

October 25th, 2008 at 7:59 am

You know, I agree. I just don’t understand the parents who constantly complain about their children’s awake times. I love my time with Ash- I hardly EVER complain about it, and I’m with him all day. He still wakes up every two hours to nurse, AND I don’t drink caffeine to help with the fatigue (though, I don’t really feel tired). Plus, I work during his naps and when he goes to bed- most nights until 11:30, and I still don’t have a lot to complain about.

I often wonder why some people are parents.

5 | Amanda

October 25th, 2008 at 10:37 am

Thats kinda sad, i really liked frema

6 | Tayla

October 25th, 2008 at 10:48 am

Have you ever read Amanda Blake Soule’s blog? its AMAZING! I love it! (and she promotes Etsy LOTS!) She’s always recommending good recipes, safe non-toxic toys, knitting/sewing patterns, etc etc

http://www.soulemama.com

7 | typealice

October 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

I’m always looking for new blogs. Thanks!

8 | Jan

October 25th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

I wasn’t familiar with her blog and checked it out… it’s amazing how many people were praising her for what she’s doing – ugh. CIO is awful. I too don’t get why some people have kids – not just one, but several, that they just whine and bitch about.

9 | mojavi at Simple Things

October 25th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

GOOD FOR YOU! I just don’t understand people/mothers who can let their little babies CIO! makes me sick!

10 | BusyBee

October 26th, 2008 at 3:04 am

I too found her blog to be very negative, it’s funny once and a while, but when it becomes what the blog is all about, I question how much she really loves and nurtures her children. Why did she choose to have another, and heaven forbid she does it again. What will her boys think of her and how she feels about them when they are old enough to read what she says about them?
I was at work the other day and had to excuse myself because there was a baby crying down the hall (it’s all I could focus on) and I was getting teary eyed. I wanted to scoop the poor little thing up and figure out what was wrong with her. (even she was being comforted, so I can’t imagine listening to a baby who is not being comforted at all and is left ALONE and ABANDONED)!

11 | Siobhan

October 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am

I totally agree with what everyone here is saying. I checked out her blog and was shocked at how much it seemed like she didn’t like her kids. I also couldn’t believe the recommendations that people were making (go to a hotel, get earplugs) etc.

12 | typealice

October 26th, 2008 at 10:01 am

All the CIOers ban together. It’s as if they can justify their despicable behaviour by cheering one another on and knowing that other people do it.

13 | Jess

October 26th, 2008 at 10:04 am

I work/have a placement at a childcare centre. There are a lot of moms who have a second child but keep their first FULL TIME at daycare while on mat leave. It’s so sad. I wonder every day why some people have children.

After meeting some of the parents you realize why some children are the way they are, or do the things they do. Parents act like their children are burdens and not real people with real rights and valid emotions.

I am (almost) an Early Childhood Educator, and I agree that CIO is a form of neglect. I believe it is unhealthy and can cause children and their developing brains harm. I think it is disgusting and ignorant, and I feel sad for those infants who’s parents who choose not to be there for their needs. They have no one else to count on.

I love your blog and your mommy ways. Ash is one lucky boy! Thank you for being such an educated, passionate momma.

14 | Ashley

October 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am

I can’t tell you how many moms have tried to pressure me into putting Bob into daycare. Even though I am HOME with Maggie. (They all do it).

UM, NO. Passthankyouverymuch.

15 | Jan

October 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

“There are a lot of moms who have a second child but keep their first FULL TIME at daycare while on mat leave.”

Wow. Speechless at that.

16 | Danielle

October 26th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

@Jan: I was gob smacked by a friend’s comment last night over dinner. She said that she would work a second job to have a live-in nanny to take care of her first born child.

I think it happens more often than we really know, unfortunately.

17 | Asheo

October 27th, 2008 at 8:19 am

My husband wants us to put Aiden in daycare, although I’m a SAHM! He thinks he’ll end up socially stunted or something if he doesn’t go to daycare. I say NO WAY! There is no need for it. If he wants Aiden to see more children, then we can get together with the MANY parents we went to school with, and my baby brother and sister.

18 | Krissa

October 27th, 2008 at 11:30 am

I read Linda’s blog. I think she shows a lot of love and nurturing and support toward her family. I find her tone, when discussing the hard things about parenting, to be one of sarcastic humor – which can sometimes sound negative if the reader is not of a similar temperment, I’m sure.
I would say in her favor, though, that while she’s not preaching nor condemning Ferber from the rooftops, she’s also not looking down her nose from atop her high horse at parents who are trying other methods. She also seems hesitant to point out other parents as “bad,” as if having children makes one an expert on such things. Perhaps a lesson could be learned there, if not in her specific parenting methods, for you.

19 | misguided mommy

October 27th, 2008 at 11:33 am

Wow. I guess you don’t read her blog clearly or you would see how obviously much Linda loves her kids. I often read her and am mesmerized by how much she interacts with them and does things with them and finds time to just be a genuinely amazing parent. I don’t find her negative, I find her funny and witty and trying to find a way to write a creative blog that some of us frazzled moms can enjoy when we just need a little quiet.

I’m sure you will delete me because I disagree with you but really? Really? To say she doesn’t love her kids. What a rude judgment to make.

20 | paige

October 27th, 2008 at 11:33 am

I enjoy Sundry’s blog, as she seems to be one of the few bloggers who doesn’t portray motherhood as a constant waterfall of rainbows and baby unicorns. As for CIO, to each their own. I think parenting is stressful enough without all the tongue clucking that goes on between mothers.

21 | Jolie

October 27th, 2008 at 11:35 am

You all need to snap your heads back on. Linda is a HUMAN BEING who, God forbid, says what she’s feeling. Personally, I applaud her for it. Letting your child cry to wean them off of mid-night feedings and wake-ups is totally normal, I’ve heard of several people doing it. It’s called everyone and their mother has different parenting strategies, and letting a baby (a baby who is plump and warm lives in a first world country flowing with everything it could ever need) cry once in awhile to save your ability to function the next morning is not a sin, it’s normal.

How dare you all shred that woman to pieces. I hope you are held to as much scrutiny for your every act and held accountable to someone else’s judgmental opinions about YOUR life, and then crucified for it when you don’t hold up.

My Lord. The internet sure does bring out the ugly in people, doesn’t it. Remember when you say such assy things that you are talking about a HUMAN BEING. and one who reads this shit, too.

22 | Robyn

October 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am

Thanks for the laugh you guys…unless of course you are all being serious…

Live and let live. (you all sound like high schoolers gossiping about the latest drama)

23 | misguided mommy

October 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am

My God I am thankful I’m not stuck in a play group with the likes of you. Miss High and Mighty Judmental fucktard you are. I can just imagine how little friends you have as everyone is probably terrified at how much you are secretly judging them. How sad and lame for you.

24 | b.

October 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am

I’m afraid I just don’t get the ugliness. Why are you being so ugly about it? If you’ve read Sundry as long as you say you have, then you’d understand who she really is and just how much she loves those children. Those boys are lucky to have her.

For the record, I’m not a believer in or a practicer of CIO. But that doesn’t mean I think it’s child abuse. It isn’t. Yes, taken to extremes, it would be. But that’s true for all parenting methods. Any mother knows that there is a difference in the way a baby cries — hungry? Sleepy? In pain? Just being a miniature PITB? I’m sure that Sundry would swoop in immediately if she detected that her baby was crying not because he wanted out of his crib but because there was a real problem.

I don’t get all the little yes-men comments. Why hasn’t anyone pointed out “to you be your way and to me be mine”? We’re all doing the best we can with our children. No need for the hate.

25 | Anne

October 27th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Geez, can all us parents just get along? I don’t agree with all other parents’ choices in childrearing, and I don’t expect all parents to agree with mine. But I think we can all agree on what is actually “abusive” or “damaging” to children, and what Linda is doing re CIO with Dylan isn’t. IS NOT. I work with children who have truly been abused and I find it upsetting that we lump actual abuse and neglect in with parenting styles we don’t share.

BTW: there is a difference between responding to a child’s NEEDS and responding to their DESIRES–when my chid doesn’t want to nap, and wails for 30 minutes at the injustice of it all, that is a DESIRE. When she cries at night because she has had a nightmare, or is wet or poopy, that is a NEED.

26 | BeanCounter719

October 27th, 2008 at 11:49 am

Really? You were a regular reader of Linda’s blog, but decided that she is an abusive parent because she is trying to cope with getting her baby to sleep through the night? I’m sorry, but I’m calling bullshite. Because, if you were a regular reader, you would realize what a loving, devoted, HUMAN, parent she is. She has a way of expressing how she is feeling – so what that she doesn’t sugar-coat the facts -about the day to day decisions that she faces as a working mom. The fact that she doesn’t talk about parenting like it’s all eating-rainbows-and pooping-butterflies, makes her believable, it does not maker her sound abusive.

27 | Lesley

October 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am

“kind of sounds lame”

Yes, yes it does. In fact, your entire post is cruel and mean and filled with untruths.

As is typical with people who write gossipy lying rants like yours, I expect you are obsessed with Linda’s blog and will indeed keep reading it like the gnarly-rodent infested bitch you are.

I also fully expect you’ll delete this comment, because heaven forbid anyone point out YOUR shortcomings.

28 | Bumbling

October 27th, 2008 at 11:55 am

WOW. Just, WOW. You are so…..petty…and….ugly….and, just, sad. It’s sad to think that in this day and age, people can be so intolerant and petty and rude.
It’s one thing, typealice, to disagree- it’s quite another to berate a person and link to her blog so you can get a few more hits. If you don’t agree with Linda, well thats fine. But don’t write a blog post about why so that you can look at yourself through the mirror of your entry and say “hey, I am soooo much better than her.” If you had stated your opinion I would respect you, but the fact that you are calling her names and encouraging others to do so disgusts me. Actually you DO remind me of gossipy, bitchy High School girls with no tolerance for people who are different than you. It’s quite sad to think that YOU will most likely teach your children to be just as close-minded as you and your readers who commented on this post are. Why, methinks that might be a form of child abuse! FOR SHAAAAME…..
In the end, I know that Linda loves her kids. Also, I know that this comment is in vain, because people who are close-minded won’t ever change. Bah- waste of time.

29 | Emily

October 27th, 2008 at 11:56 am

Just what the worlds needs, more hardworking moms judging other hardworking moms. NOW THAT IS PROGRESS! Good luck to you and yours.

30 | Heather Campbell

October 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

As a breastfeeding, co sleeping, non CIO kind of mom I just have to say one thing.
You pretty much suck for writing this! How about you do what works for you, and let Linda do what works for her. It’s pretty clear that she adores her kids, or is that too hard to see with your nose so high in the air.
and… teaching your kids to be judgmental is pretty doesn’t look too good either.

31 | Claudia

October 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm

It’s too bad all this negative energy can’t be spent being more supportive of each other. Motherhood is the hardest job we have and to be cut down by other mothers and berated for the ways in which we raise our children is just wrong. Why must so much time be spent hating? If you don’t like her blog, just don’t read it. Like I’ll do with this one?

32 | Nichole

October 27th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

You have a right to your opinion, of course, but this was really an unkind thing to post.

33 | Stacy

October 27th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

I think it is great that you are able to so accurately judge the content of a mother’s heart by the words she rights and moments she chooses to share on the internet. (This is an example of sarcasm, you can find a healthy dose of it at SundryMorning.com)

34 | Cassie

October 27th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

Parenting is stressful enough without people like you berating others for their personal parenting choices. And someone here questions how much Linda loves her children? How sad. If you’d actually READ her blog it would be clear to you how loved and nurtured those boys are. I love reading her blog because she tells it like it is. If parenting is all unicorns and rainbows for you, wonderful — and bullshit. It just isn’t, and at least Linda’s honest about that. It’s too bad we can’t all support each other instead of criticizing each others’ individual parenting decisions. I feel sorry for you in your ignorance.

35 | Karin

October 27th, 2008 at 12:06 pm

Wow – how’s the air up there on your pedestal?

It’s too bad you don’t have the humor and wit that Linda does in your writing – you’re too busy being judgmental and uppity. I’d say if you had any following to begin with (besides the rest of your click who probably also had no friends in high school) they’re high tailing it out of here because ……..damn what a bitch you are.

And fyi – I taught my children to tell snooty, bitchy, judgmental mommy’s like you what fuck ups you and your kids are! Judge that bitch!

36 | san

October 27th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

well i think parading your son in his diaper on the internet for millions to view is something you should be more concerned about.

37 | Danielle

October 27th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

Your decision to stop reading something you claim to enjoy based solely on a disagreement with the author’s parenting strategy is a testament to a comical deficiency in self-confidence. That’s your issue, and yours alone. But when you call another mother out (by name AND by a link to her site) on your site just to spout off about how much better than her you think you are, you cross a line that makes you come across like a taunting, self-aggrandizing bitch.

You have essentially compared Linda to a physically or emotionally abusive parent, and that is as laughable and ignorant as it is pathetic. By letting my children “cry it out”, I allowed them to learn how to pacify themselves — the alternative being to teach them that they can have whatever they want as long as they cry for it.

And speaking of “crying for it”, it seems as though you’ve garnered the attention you sought when you named all of the people in this entry and branded them with your own ridiculous version of The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps it’s time now for YOU to learn to pacify YOURSELF.

38 | adri

October 27th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

While I wholeheartedly believe that people are entitled to their opinions, I think it’s wrong of you to question Linda’s love for her children, which is exactly what you have done with this piece. Anyone who has read her blog knows that her kids are the center of her world.

If you don’t agree with her parenting methods, that’s fine. If you want to stop reading her blog, that’s also fine. But you posting this blog is very sad to me, because it is so critical and judgemental and self righteous. As are the comments some of your readers have left.

Even though I’m sure you won’t reconsider your opinion on the topic of CIO (it’s your opinion to own), I hope you will reconsider your post about Linda’s blog.

39 | Lesley

October 27th, 2008 at 12:23 pm

On typealices’s “about” page Gillian says:
“I’m very stingy with money and fussy with the “proper way” things should be done. I’m trying to get over both of these things.”

Evidently she’s not making progress.

40 | Kelsey

October 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

I’m sure Sundry isn’t crying into her cereal about you moving on. Your need to broadcast this development (along with making it clear this isn’t the first blog you’ve been “forced” to abandon) makes me wonder about YOU! Why not just stop reading the blog and move on with your life without the implications that some how your opinion is the be-all and the end-all? Having strong view is admirable, but using them as an excuse to be mean, nasty and ridiculous just makes me feel bad for you.

41 | Jem

October 27th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

These first few comments and the entry made me sick, but I’m so glad to see all the comments afterward. Can you even imagine how horrible it would be to be Linda, who loves her kids more than ANYTHING, and have to read this mess? She adores her kids. To her they are little human beings with their own personalities, which she seems to be constantly amazed by. She doesn’t judge people on their opinions, and her kids are so lucky to be in a household like that. Which is more than I can say for the kids that are being raised in judgemental households where they won’t learn tolerance, or that sometimes there are simply other ways to do things.

So if you think CIO is child abuse, isn’t it also child abuse to grow up with such judgemental parents who attack other parents and say they aren’t worthy of having kids? What kind of lessons are you teaching your children from THAT, I wonder. Linda knows the difference between a bored cry and a distressed cry.

42 | Robyn

October 27th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

Her reasons for doing what she did, was to get a hit count even half of that which Linda has. (self-serving) It has obviously worked, we are all here defending Linda, but rest assured Gillian, we WON’T be back. Once the drama you created dies down, (if people are smart) you’ll have less readers than you originally did.

43 | Erin

October 27th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Next time you disagree with someone, how about you just stop reading their blog and leave it at that? While I agree with you 100% about CIO, it was TOTALLY unnecessary to name AND link the blogger in question. Please, I beg of you, try and teach your children more tolerance for other opinions than what you’ve shown us here.

44 | Lisa V

October 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

Ever hear of that great philosopher Thumper from Bambi?

“If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it.”

Degrading others does not elevate you.

45 | Mel

October 27th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Oh, for goodness sake….get a life.

Every parent does things differently and while I agree one can have an opinion, it isn’t right to question a parent’s love for their child. Sheesh.

46 | Mel

October 27th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

By the way?? Have you NEVER felt frustrated as a mother?? Have you never used YOUR blog to vent when you’re having a bad day and just have no idea where to turn next?

47 | Robert Rummel-Hudson

October 27th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

The world needs more writers like Linda who speak honestly and openly about parenting, including their own doubts and flaws and weaknesses. That there are people like you who crouch in the corner waiting to pounce and offer sanctimonious judgement probably goes a long way towards explaining why those writers are so rare. As I go back and read some of your other posts, and as I see the questionable judgment you’ve shown from time to time (nice photos of your child in a state of near-undress), I can only hope that Linda has the confidence and good sense to dismiss your opinion and your shameful (and ultimately forgettable) post. See ya, indeed.

48 | typealice

October 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

My response: http://typealice.com/blog/2008/10/27/pot-calling-the-kettle-black/

49 | Maria

October 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

Helping a child establish healthy sleep patterns and abuse are the same thing? *headscratch*

50 | Kate

October 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

I don’t habitually read either of your blogs, but I read the posts that correspond to this entry.

Who cares if you don’t like the CIO method? It’s not child abuse. If we catered to every whimper or whine of our child, we’d create a generation of self-entitled assholes. Oh, wait. Most of you are already doing that. Go, parents!

The REAL issue here is people who are so high and mighty, so self-righteous, that they need to publicly lambaste someone who acts differently from them. Such narrow-mindedness, such divisive attitudes are the reason that people still look down on the “Mommy Crowd.”

She made a choice. And in detailing her choice, not once did she condemn anyone who makes a different choice. Why couldn’t you do the same?

51 | Disgusted

October 27th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

Hard truth: your kid’s going to grow up to be a spoiled mama’s boy creep and will never grow up and move out of your house because nobody will cater to his every whim like mom does. You’re a million times more abusive than any parent who dares to let their kid cry for more 5 seconds without rushing in to save the day.

52 | autumn

October 27th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

I have never read your blog before and I never will again. Comparing a crying (also well-fed, well-dressed in clean clothes, adored by two parents, and generally doted on) child to ACTUAL child abuse is completely inappropriate. How dare you compare that to verbal abuse or some of the horrific physical abuse that goes on around you? Perhaps you should pay more attention to the real world and, instead of laying awake at night thinking of all those poor babies who cry for 10 minutes before going to sleep, why don’t you take all that time you have to sew sustainable slings and get out in your community and be an advocate for those children who are helpless victims. Maybe it would help you with your definition of abuse. Calling out a loving mother as an abuser while simultaneously ignoring REAL abusers is too hypocritical. If you feel that strongly, “be the change you wish to see in the world” instead of wasting time and text on inflammatory, highly inaccurate posts.

53 | Sleepynita

October 27th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

You obviously suck as a human being, and your own parenting seems to be pretty questionable too. Obviously you were raised with ah minimum of respect for other people and their choices. Also?: no sense of humor or understanding of sarcasm.

If you don’t want to read something then delete it but don’t link link to the blog knowing that you are going to get the hits you are so obviously digging for.

I hope the sunshine and rainbows continue to fly out your ass.

54 | NK

October 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pm

I’m not really one to jump all over someone, especially when that’s being done already, but good grief woman! I seriously hope that everyone beyond the first few comments ditches you after this, so that you and your little posse of bitter people can enjoy yourselves up that pedestal. Good luck.

Oh, and Linda is an AMAZING parent, which you would know if you could stop being judgmental for 3.4 seconds. She loves her sons more than life, and simply paints parenthood as what is is – not as a sea of rainbows and baby ponies.

55 | typealice

October 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pm

FOR THE HUNDRED THOUSANTH TIME: I DID NOT FUCKING SAY THAT SHE DID NOT LOVE HER CHILDREN.

56 | Disgusted

October 27th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

You said she was abusing her child. How is that NOT obliquely saying she doesn’t love her kids? Backpedal all you want but what you said is still vile.

57 | Robert Rummel-Hudson

October 27th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

Child abusers love their kids, too, right? Good lord…

58 | Jamie

October 27th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

Whatever happened to treating others like you would wish to be treated? I have no idea whether or not my mother allowed me to CIO (or not), but what she did do was raise me to be respectful of everyone I meet – whether I agree with them or not.

Here’s an example: I respect you, typealice, for taking a stand and communicating your beliefs. You are entitled to that, particularly on your own blog. I won’t judge you or say nasty things about you and your unfortunate choice of delivery on this particular message. What I will do is never, ever read this blog again. Have a nice life.

Where did the respect go?

59 | Beth Fish

October 27th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

I am strongly opposed to CIO, and neither of my two kids have ever or will ever cry themselves to sleep. But, the idea that leaving a fed, warm, clean, dry, well-loved child to cry for a few minutes is akin to beating, berating, or worse (as in”otherwise-abusive”) is ridiculous. There is plenty of actual child abuse in this world, I do not think we need to invent anymore for the sake of feeling superior.

60 | heather

October 27th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

put simply, you’re an asshole.

61 | Lesley

October 27th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

I’ve met moms like Type A here whose husbands spend as many hours away from the house as possible (because nothing they ever do at home or for their kids is good enough). Usually these fathers are made to feel inferior and second rate.

Mothers who have no lives outside of their kids by choice become smothering.

Kids benefit from having a variety of people caring for them. They quickly learn to trust others and rely on others. Moms who prevent this aren’t being kind to their children or themselves. And if she doesn’t think her kid picks up all of her insecurities and neuroses, she’s nuts. Kids pick this crap up like a magnet.

62 | BusyBee

October 27th, 2008 at 2:52 pm

It was me that suggested her blogging makes the average reader wonder how much love and nurturing she provides as she always is complaining about them, based on the way she writes. I NEVER said she didn’t love them, abused them or hates them. I just worry about how her boys will see it when they are old enough to read the blogs, as anything on the internet is never gone. And until her boys have kids of their own, they will not understand the sarcastic tone.

63 | sweetsalty kate

October 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

I’m not sure why you did this, G. I just can’t figure it out… or maybe I’m just comfortable with the reason that seems most apparent.

This is all just so incredibly sad. Just sad.

64 | Lesley

October 27th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

typealice wrote: FOR THE HUNDRED THOUSANTH TIME: I DID NOT FUCKING SAY THAT SHE DID NOT LOVE HER CHILDREN.
________________

You have strongly implied as much in this post and in numerous comments. You have called Sundry’s parenting with child abuse. Strong accusation, that. You say you equate her parenting to child abuse. In fact, Sundry has never allowed Dylan to suffer, but you say that she has and even more than that, you suggest she has done so repeatedly. You have invented cruelty where none exists to fuel some batshit crazy idea of what mothers are supposed to be.

In other posts of yours you mention that your husband works 12 hours a day, is never home, how you never go anywhere and your kid is all you have. You are severely sleep deprived but have decided this has no impact when it very clearly does. There is a disturbing martyr-like pathos in your own approach that you’ve turned into a virtue to serve yourself (not Ash). Now, whenever you come across a mother who works part time, has thoughts outside of her children, negotiates her sleep routine or expresses how she feels, you call this child abuse. This is wack-city. I hope you can see your way clear before your kid decides he wants to spend more time with his dad than with you. He will arrive at that desire soon enough, so you might want to have things in your life that define you outside of just mothering.

65 | sweetsalty kate

October 27th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

(that was meant to read: I’m just *not* comfortable…)

66 | kate

October 27th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

“You all need to snap your heads back on. Linda is a HUMAN BEING who, God forbid, says what she’s feeling. Personally, I applaud her for it. Letting your child cry to wean them off of mid-night feedings and wake-ups is totally normal, I’ve heard of several people doing it. It’s called everyone and their mother has different parenting strategies, and letting a baby (a baby who is plump and warm lives in a first world country flowing with everything it could ever need) cry once in awhile to save your ability to function the next morning is not a sin, it’s normal.
How dare you all shred that woman to pieces. I hope you are held to as much scrutiny for your every act and held accountable to someone else’s judgmental opinions about YOUR life, and then crucified for it when you don’t hold up.
My Lord. The internet sure does bring out the ugly in people, doesn’t it. Remember when you say such assy things that you are talking about a HUMAN BEING. and one who reads this shit, too.”

I quoted the entire letter because I agree with everything this commenter has said. To add to it, if you pick up your child every time they cry you end up with a child who cannot self-console, this is something necessary as we all grow into adults. A good parent is one who recognizes the difference when their child is fussing and when they need attention. I think Linda knows the difference, and hats off to someone who is honest about what is feels like sometimes to parent.

67 | Jennifer

October 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

BusyBee: “…I question how much she really loves and nurtures her children.”

Okay, so you didn’t say, “Linda does not love her children.” But that’s splitting hairs — how else is that statement to be interpreted? And I disagree about picking upon sarcasm — I don’t think having children is necessary to be able to do that or to recognize it being used in re: parenthood.

Intolerance and judgment break my heart; intolerance and judgment in the name of caring really breaks my heart.

68 | Heather-in-Australia

October 27th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

Why publicly decry her instead of simply ceasing to read her? You have every right to disagree, but to do so in the way you have & publicly at that is, at the very least, ugly & unkind.

I find you … appalling.

69 | Samantha

October 27th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

I think it is REALLY sad that some women can bash and judge other women for the way they choose to raise their children.

If you honestly think that letting a child CIO is abuse, then I urge you to call child protective services, and report it. Don’t be surprised when they LAUGH OUT LOUD AND HANG UP ON YOU.

I am in early childhood education, and I have seen horrible instances of REAL abuse. This is not a case of neglect, it is a case of you being judgmental.

Linda loves those children with every fiber of her being.

I can understand that you disagree, but why put it out there for everyone to know? That is a little sick.