Parenting 101...or is it 403b? 401K?

I'm just going to go ahead and say that being a mom is the most wonderful job I could have ever dreamed of and I feel incredibly blessed that God trusts me this much with a precious little life. Before our little dear got here (which I still think it's funny to say that because it's not like she was somewhere else and just "flew in" one day)...I had no idea what to expect of myself as a parent. I hoped to raise kiddos using consistent discipline of some kind, but who in the world knows what kind of parent they'll be before the kid even arrives? (again, it sounds like the child is landing on Earth from another planet)


To go along with my very first blog when I discussed teaching the Nonner to leave "Mommy's things" alone around the house, I'm finding out that the word "NO" is unavoidable. Chris' aunt just told us a funny story this weekend about a 2 year old little girl she knows. When asked, "What does a horsey say?" she replies, "Neigh"...when asked "What does a cow say?" she replies, "Moo"...when asked "what does Mommy say?" she replies, "NO, NO, NO!" I almost wet my pants. Fortunately, Addie knows what "NO" means and so far my efforts to help her resist touching things she shouldn't is working out for us. We'll keep up the good work. **Patting myself on the back***


And NO, I am not the lady in the news who potty trains her infants, however....***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COULD CAUSE A SENSE OF SHOCK TO MOST/ALL READERS*** Addie does go potty/poopy on the toilet sometimes. Back to the cloth diaper issues--you see, why would I want to clean a poopy mess out of a diaper when I know she needs to go and I could just conveniently FLUSH the mess down the commode? It's all about the timing. I'm not trying to potty train her, but why not stick her little boukee (rear end, for those of you who have forgotten my terminology from two blogs ago) on the pot when I think she might need to go. Here's the embarrassing part: we wave "bye bye" to the poopy as it's flushing! Enough said.


I think the whole goal of this blog was just to point out that every parent is different, every family is different and I have learned to stop any judgemental thoughts in their tracks when it comes to others' parenting styles. A very wise woman once told me to stop worrying so much about what other people think and what works for us may not work for others and vice versa. Addie slept in our room in a bassinet/pack n' play until she was 6 months old. I had some issues with telling people that (only because I was the person who used to say, "My kids will NOT sleep in the room with my husband and I"). Hey--we were all getting 8+ good hours of uninterrupted sleep, which made for a happier mommy and we all know that if mommy's happy, every one's happy! Typically, I'm not the type of person to even begin to care what others think, but being a parent is BIG stuff, man! One of the things I love to do more than anything is research different parenting philosophies and learn how others are raising happy, healthy, loving children. I guess I truly am a lifelong learner (that Franklin College motto paid off in one way at least!)


Enjoy this lovely photo below of our dear daughter on the pot with her "grunting face" on! It's a classic!


PS--For all of you who heard about the lady who potty trains her infant and think she's nuts, you should Google "Elimination Communication" and do some research yourselves. I'm not necessarily for or against it, but it is another one of those interesting things I had NEVER heard of before and I find it all very fascinating!

PPS--I WILL NOT take a picture of Addie with her poopy like I saw a mom of twins and sextuplets do on TV (Jon and Kate Plus 8--great show)!

PPSS--I promise this is the last one, but "poopy" came up on spell check! Can you believe the dictionary doesn't know the word "POOPY"!? But it knows that Google should be capitalized!!! I'm appalled!

Mikey, are you allowed to "PS," "PPS," and "PPSS" in a blog? Just checking.