Trusting my instincts...

As a mother, it is your job to defend your kids.  I've always known this as a fact and have done my fair share of glaring when people smoke too close to the playground and rolling my eyes when someone's child is not playing safe near Scarlett, but I've never had to take the initiative to actually stand up for my babies.

My mom set the perfect example of always sticking up for my siblings and me.  My third grade teacher allowed our class to watch the movie, Roots.  Well, I started having nightmares, so my mom marched into school and got me out of watching a movie that she felt was inappropriate for an eight year old.  I could give a million more examples of my mom sticking up for me or protecting me.  It was what she does did, but now that I have my own babies, I knew that it was my job to protect them.  I never had to actually do anything to protect them, until last weekend...

Tyler's family was coming into town to visit and meet Poppy.  That was fine...until Tuesday.  Tyler's sister started posting facebook updates about how sick she was with tonsillitis and strep throat.  When I read that, I assumed that she would not be meeting Poppy at this time,  but she lives 15 minutes away, so no biggie.  I didn't hear another thing about it until Saturday when his sister posted about how the amoxicillin was working and how excited she was to meet baby 2.  ALL IN THE SAME POST.  Um, no, you are not going to be breathing my 9 day old baby's air when you've been on meds for a few days.  Strep is contagious.  No.  

While I had made up my mind, Tyler's family had other plans.  After phone call after phone call about her illness and his entire family convinced that she was fine to meet an infant and Tyler not saying anything to dissuade their decision, I soon realized that it was up to me.  I was going to have to protect my newborn, therefore becoming the bad guy in their opinions.  (yet, again!)

So I did it.  At first, I called my mom and my sister to ask their advice, but when they didn't answer, I knew what I had to do.

I called my sister-in-law and told her the bad news.  It went worse than I had expected, but when I hung up the phone, I felt fantastic.  I had done it.  Is that crazy?!  I didn't think I was out of line; I was trusting my instincts.  I had stuck up for what I felt was right for my baby and was not walked all over and taken advantage of.  And Poppy wasn't exposed to strep!  Extra bonus!