Listening To My Inner Mom Voice

My mom and I have a wonderful relationship. We talk every single day, sometimes for hours if time permits. I share pretty much everything with her and she is the first one to know about 98% of what goes on in my life. We don't always agree on everything, but we are able to listen to each other's opinions and agree to disagree if in the end that is what it comes to.

That is not to say that our relationship is perfect. We do have heated conversations, especially now that I am pregnant. She doesn't fully understand why I do certain things, like why I'm still vegan now in my pregnancy, and I always do my best to explain it to her, but since it's not the "norm" she continues to not be 100% on board.

Right now there are a few things that I am really trying to get her to agree with me or at least leave me alone about:

1. I won't stop being vegan in my pregnancy or after I give birth (or ever).
2. Our baby will be raised a vegan until he/she is old enough to form his/her own opinion.
3. I will breast feed exclusively for as long as I can.
4. I will co-sleep with our baby and not use a traditional crib. (disregard "dream crib post!)
5. Our baby will use cloth diapers. No ifs, ands or butts. ;)
6. I will have a natural birth with as little medical intervention as possible. 
7. We will use a sling with our baby.

I can probably think of more things but these seem to be the ones we touch on the most. Since my mom and I are so close, I do seek her approval a lot and I really need to stick to my guns now more than ever. I can't start compromising how I want Mike & I to raise our baby just because my mom has a different point of view. The most I can do is allow her to voice her opinion and then share mine and let her know I won't be changing my mind.

After talking for hours about the crib (which she even hated our "dream crib" because it was oval shaped), I finally got her to stop pushing the idea of a traditional crib on me. When I showed her a picture of the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper that I like, she actually offered to be the one to buy it for me.

That's the great thing about my mom. At the end of the day, I know that everything she says, she says out of love. She means no harm because she really just doesn't know any better. I really can't wait to see her when she comes visit me with my Grams for Mother's Day. I haven't seem them in almost a year. My mom's love for me is unconditional and I know she will always support me no matter what I do. I just need to have a little more patience with her and more confidence in my decisions and we'll continue to be just fine!