First, as many may gather, I am what you would consider a "young mother" part of the "who likes condoms?" species, under the "I was young and dumb, he was cute and dumber" genus, closely related to the "we have been married for a month so let's have a baby" genus.
Despite the way, the who, or the when of how I became a mother I feel like I have done a pretty damn good job of raising my kids and maintaining my household. That being said, let's move on to the delightful nurses and doctor that decided to use their medical school degrees to evaluate me as a mother based on my lack of life experience. It may be irrelevant how other people think of me but this is something that boils my blood.
So it's 10-11 pm and my two year old hasn't stopped crying since we got to the room in the ER, my other daughter is screaming because the nurses are repetitively stabbing at her for an unnecessary IV that they eventually gave up on. It is officially the second time within a week that I find myself in the hospital only I don't have my adoring husband with me (he is in the field). I am NOT in a good mood.
At this point I have already had Nurse A make remarks about how I was handling my melting down toddler, the doctor has reminded me in only the most condescending way possible that "an infant with a fever is an EMERGENCY situation" as if we weren't standing in an exam room in THE ER, and thye are telling me they need to do an (also unnecessary) spinal tap on Lela, when all of a sudden Nurse B (for Bitch) asks me "What's wrong with her?" looking at Ava like she smelled her own asshole, so I plainly told her that it is well past her bedtime and she doesn't want to be here.
"Well, you don't look like you want to be here either." she says, as she stares at me like I am a whining 10 year old brat.
.........................................................
so I spelled it out for her, since she clearly needed me to, "No, I don't."
"Well, young lady, we have to take care of your baby!!!!"
I was so far done....
About 20 minutes after this altercation, Nurse A-hole comes into the room right after they took Lela out for an x-ray and all I can think is "fuuuuuu, she is about to give me a speech about being a mom"
and that is what she did, starting with "Are you feelin' overwhelmed?" and finishing with "you're young and I know it's hard, but it will get easier..."
You would of thought I was the first person in history to walk into the ER in the middle of the night with a sick baby and screaming kid not thinking to put a sweet little smile on my oh so young face.
Can you catch the point of the story?Why does everyone look at young mothers and automatically think they are in over their head and therefore need guidance, it's like there are old lady Yoda's lurking in the dark corners of all grocery stores, hospitals, and restaurants waiting for your child to misbehave so that they may use The Force on your ego (and patience) to remind you of your age.
I can remember after finding out I was pregnant with Ava when i was 19, being told that I should give her up for adoption because I had my whole life ahead of me and that I would miss out on so many experiences... I was literally told that I should shed my responsibility so that I could go have "fun".
Let me just say that having been married twice, traveling across Europe, or even simply going to college can not prep you on how to change a diaper, teach a child some manners, and generally keep them alive until they can do it themselves. Bringing another life into the world can come at any time and no matter what over priced book you have read, you will not be prepared and I will bet any amount of money that a 30 year old first timer who had all kinds of "life experiences" would be just as nervous as I was when I was a 19 year old first timer.
This has turned into a rant.
So, rant over I suppose.
No comments:
Post a Comment