Parenting

I just finished reading one of the best articles about parenting. I was reading an article from Today's Parent one of Canada's parenting magazines. I have been getting the magazine ever since I was pregnant with my first, Peyton, who is 4 years old now. The article was called Words of Wisdom by John Hoffman. I really enjoyed the sense that he speaks about in his article. I really find he speaks a lot about how I parent and how I feel about parenting as a whole.

He talks about expert advice and says this "Experts are not experts on your kids. YOU ARE!" This is exactly right. Parenting is not an exact science that you can say well just sleep train them, put them in timeout, don't spank, don't co-sleep, don't hold them too much, and whatever you do listen to what I am saying. With saying all of that I have strong beliefs about certain ways I do things but this is the way I do them not everyone else. I don't think there is one way to do things, each child is unique and requires you to do things different and being the first, second or even third child plays and roll in how you parent too. I also don't want to discourage parents from reading and learning more and more about what parenting advice is out there because you may use some of what they are saying or use nothing but being open to learning about what else is out there makes and helps make you a better parent.

I also find that not just experts make us questions or feel guilty about how we parent but family, friends and even complete strangers. Someone always knows how to fix your problems with you and your baby or child. I remember being a first time parent and feeling all the pressure and advice coming from everywhere and how overwhelming it is and how much you just want to scream and say "This is our child and we are going to do what we want to do." Now I find that I really empathize with new parents and don't ever want to be that person who tells them how to do it. I find when I hear someone else saying well I think they shouldn't hold the baby to much or just critising how they are doing things I will often say....... "It is really hard being a first time parent and not everything is easy and we don't know everything. If they make mistakes they will be their mistakes which is the way it should be." My mom and my sister and I all parent different and we are different and I do what suits me and my sister does what suits her. We don't agree on some parenting but we do agree that we all do things the way we think they should go, the best we know how and the best for our kids.

I like to read Today's Parent because I find it informational, hilarious, helpful, and encouraging. I want to keep informed about today's parenting practices and use or not use what I read about. I hope you keep being informed. I know you do know what you are doing because if I was to ask anyone about your kids you would be the expert.