leave my baby alone

Not all babies are born chubby.  Did you know that ?  it seems a lot of people out there doesn't.   I know it first hand because people always say to me with a puzzled look "your baby is skinny ! ????????"  A rhetorical question that makes me feel like the worse mother on the planet.

 

People would ask me questions like "does she eat ?", "do you have issue feeding her", "is she well", "do you use formula", etc.  I know many of them formula feed their kid (hence they're really big in size) YET somehow their comments make me feel guilty for breast feeding mine > The most natural way and best way I know for my baby.  When around the asian parents, they would comment stuff like bigger baby means they're healthier.   The caucasian parents are more polite, they would say stuff like "don't worry, she'll catch up" !  I think my daughter is fine the way she is.  My baby is healthy even if she isn't fat.  Who makes up that standard anyway ???

I do feed my daughter.  I feed her a lot in fact.  I don't know how to go about proving it because she's got little meat on her.  She's really active...if that justified anything.  I really don't know why she's not meaty or overweight looking.  Some day I let it slide, some day I found myself babbling on about what I fed her.  Thing is, I can't believe my daughter is already judged at only few months old.  I have to bite down my lips, not wanting to say some mean things back.  I don't know how many times I have to tell people "she eats, she eats a lot"  yes, despite what she looks like, she DOES eat and loves to eat !  I DO FEED my baby !  After countless times repeating myself, I gave up !

I wish I can say that those people's comments don't get to me because they do.  I find myself in a rut some times, slipping in a baby meal replacement here and there, and pray that she would put on a few pounds.  I just want people to leave us alone.  I am a good mom damn it !!!  I don't need to fatten her up to show to people how great she is, or how great of a mom I am.

As a woman, I realized our weight image and issue will follow us for as long as we live.   Which is quite sad isn't it ?  My Honeybee knows, and understands words now, maybe not the whole context of thing, but she understands words.  I just have to politely ask people to be careful with what they're saying around my daughter.  Today might be "she's skinny", in the future might be "she's overweight" or "she's chubby" or "she's short".  People need to guard their lips and careful about their words around kids.