Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Confessions of a Jealous Mommy

Yesterday I took Julia to a pumpkin patch.

I didn't take Julia to just ANY pumpkin patch. I took her to THE pumpkin patch.

You see, after hearing from my friends about their wonderful fun experience with their kids and seeing pictures of other babies Julia's age loving pumpkins and petting zoos and everything, I had convinced myself that I needed to go. And Julia would love it.

I was jealous. Green with envy. I wanted that experience for MY child. I wanted MY child to have a cute picture with a pumpkin. I wanted. I wanted. I wanted. Really, it was all for me.

So, should it surprise me at all that it was cold and windy yesterday and Julia's hood wouldn't stay up? Should it surprised me that while Julia enjoyed "petting" the kittens, she had no desire to feed or pet the goats? And really, should it surprise me at all that when I set Julia next a pumpkin to take a picture of her with it, she screamed in terror? And, no matter how many different times or ways I tried to sit her by a pumpkin, she would cry and start crawling towards me? Should any of that have surprised me?

No.

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However, it sure did hurt my feelings. I sure felt like I wasted three hours of my day. And I sure felt silly for being so jealous in the first place.

So, I will put a picture of her screaming and crying next to a pumpkin in her baby book with the "I had fun at Carroll's pumkin patch." sticker firmly placed next to it. (Oh, the irony!) And, besides being a funny story for the future, I will also use it as a reminder of how poisonous jealousy is for the soul.

(I did manage to get a few pictures of Julia on a wooden tractor and wooden horse that she deemed "okay" places to be. And, I soothed my soul a bit by visiting my favorite quilt shop to buy fabric for some Christmas gift aprons. However... I most certainly did learn my lesson!)

Tractor and horse pictures:

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