If you promise not to tell anyone, I will make a confession. I am not a perfect mom.
There are days when I have no idea what I 'm doing.
Getting her to take a bottle. Pacifiers. Nap time. Tummy time. Bed time. These are some of the areas in which I am definitely not an expert. I am, however, a well read non-expert. When I have a question about something I will read lots of information about it. And what have I discovered? That there is A LOT of conflicting advice out there.
Let your baby cry. Don't let your baby cry. Feed them solids at 4 months. Feed them solids at 7 months. Pacifiers are good. Pacifiers are evil. Rock them. Don't rock them. It is enough to make a new mama crazy! Lucky for me, instead of going crazy, I share all of the information with Ryan and then ask him, "So what should we do?" Turns out, he doesn't know either. Bummer.
At one doctor's appointment I asked our pediatrician his advice about something. As I was ending my question I commented, "I know it's not a big deal. She'll probably be fine either way." He replied with a smile, "Oh no. She'll probably be ruined for life either way. " :) Some days I call my mom and ask her for advice. She usually tells me that either she can't remember what she did or that she did it wrong but that I ended up just fine. She's right - I know how to take a nap, go to sleep at night, eat food, and walk. She must have known something.
People always joke that babies don't come with instruction manuals. It's true. Instead of an instruction manual I am forced to rely on intuition, a mother's love, and lots of prayer. I pray each day that the Lord would help me to make the right choices for Eva. The Bible has much to say about a parent's role in training their child. It also teaches us about the
faithful and forever love of God. I am thankful for God's great love for me and thankful that He loves my little girl even more than I do. I trust that He will lead my heart and my mind when I seek His wisdom. If I didn't believe that I'd probably cry more and laugh less. Praise God for His daily guidance! ..... And thanks for keeping my confession just between us.
If you promise not to tell anyone, I will make a confession. I am not a perfect mom. There are days when I have no idea what I 'm doing. Getting her to take a bottle. Pacifiers. Nap time. Tummy time. Bed time. These are some of the areas in which I am definitely not an expert. I am, however, a well read non-expert. When I have a question about something I will read lots of information about it. And what have I discovered? That there is A LOT of conflicting advice out there. Let your baby cry. Don't let your baby cry. Feed them solids at 4 months. Feed them solids at 7 months. Pacifiers are good. Pacifiers are evil. Rock them. Don't rock them. It is enough to make a new mama crazy! Lucky for me, instead of going crazy, I share all of the information with Ryan and then ask him, "So what should we do?" Turns out, he doesn't know either. Bummer.
At one doctor's appointment I asked our pediatrician his advice about something. As I was ending my question I commented, "I know it's not a big deal. She'll probably be fine either way." He replied with a smile, "Oh no. She'll probably be ruined for life either way. " :) Some days I call my mom and ask her for advice. She usually tells me that either she can't remember what she did or that she did it wrong but that I ended up just fine. She's right - I know how to take a nap, go to sleep at night, eat food, and walk. She must have known something.
People always joke that babies don't come with instruction manuals. It's true. Instead of an instruction manual I am forced to rely on intuition, a mother's love, and lots of prayer. I pray each day that the Lord would help me to make the right choices for Eva. The Bible has much to say about a parent's role in training their child. It also teaches us about the faithful and forever love of God. I am thankful for God's great love for me and thankful that He loves my little girl even more than I do. I trust that He will lead my heart and my mind when I seek His wisdom. If I didn't believe that I'd probably cry more and laugh less. Praise God for His daily guidance! ..... And thanks for keeping my confession just between us.
I'll tell you one thing. It does get easier. After going through it all with Kyler and Melissa, with Caedon it's so easy for me to remember that all babies are different, they all need and do different things and that as long as I'm loving him and taking good care of him, whatever I choose to do about bed time, food, etc is fine. But of course, now I have a 6 year old and we're in more new territory and I have no clue what I'm doing with him. *Shrug* Parenting is a never ending puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIf you just smile and hold you head high then everyone else will assume you know what you are doing ;) Anyways, once you get it figured out with the first the second it COMPLETELY different. Just do what seems to work best for baby and you. At the end of the day if she is loved, fed, and dry then you have done your job.
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