Category Archives: parenting

Best Parenting Advice

On Father’s Day we went to the zoo and I witnessed some of the best parenting I have seen in a long time. I had not been to the zoo in several years and had forgotten how many small children can be found on the premises. One father and son came to my attention. The son was misbehaving. Granted, little boys have difficulty sitting still for any extended period of time, this kid appeared to be about six years old and should have been able to follow basic instructions. However, he chose not to. His father warned that if he did not stop jumping out of his stroller and throwing his toys and sunglasses on the ground they would leave.

I paid little attention since I had heard such threats numerous times from parents at different venues. Usually either the child stops, or the exasperated parent tries tirelessly to get the child to cooperate. I was pleasantly surprised to see this father actually take his child home. They left the zoo.

Having children I know how frustrating it can be when they decide to have an all out temper tantrum in public, and how sometimes it is just plain problematic to get up and leave. But it has to be done. If parents constantly ignore their children’s bad behavior, or worse, provide empty threats, then the kids do not learn to ever behave properly. Next time mom and dad say no, the children know they just have to push the right buttons to get what they want because mom and dad won’t follow through.

I know how inconvenient it must be to leave the zoo less than an hour after you got there, especially if you live further away. I know how annoying it is to pay for two tickets and a rented stroller only to realize you just wasted that money. But before you start letting your mind go there, realize that you did not waste that money, you spent it on a lesson that your children would not otherwise have learned. Of course ideally we would never have to dole out those types of ultimatums because our children would all be little angels, but in reality, you just taught your kid a great lesson. I am willing to bet that little boy will think twice about testing his father again.

How do you handle tantrums in public?

Who Came Up With "Eating for Two?"

As I sit in my doctor’s office for a prenatal visit I overhear a conversation in the room next door between a nurse and doctor.

“So-and-So has gained twelve pounds and she is only two months along!”

“Well, she better be having triplets” was the doctor’s response.

I don’t need a doctor to tell me this is excessive weight gain. It got me wondering, where did the “eating for two” myth originate? Did doctors really believe this at one point and instructed their patients such? Is it just an old wives’ saying?

After some extensive research, I have to admit, the jury is still out. I found so many contradicting sources in regards to the saying, I decided it would be wise to just take it all with a grain of salt. But clearly the saying was at one point, and still is, widely believed. Are there still doctors out there propagating the information?

From my findings, more and more reliable websites are instructing pregnant women to eat less than they may necessarily want, and to take care of themselves. Now more than ever there are numerous resources for pregnant women to lose weight prior to pregnancy (if possible), keep most of it off during pregnancy, and to lose the baby weight after.

Even though this is my second pregnancy, I still read all the magazines and books as if it were my first (in case I missed anything the first time around, or there are any new developments in medical knowledge). I see weight as being one of the heaviest issues up for discussion, and it makes me believe it is more a matter of willpower than anything else. I am trying not to be unfair, but part of me wants to believe that a lot of women are having difficulty shedding the pounds postpartum because they just couldn’t help themselves during pregnancy.

Missing Life Before Multiple Kids

 

 

After giving birth to my daughter I did not really miss life before kids. I still don’t. I read all the blogs about how some women miss having no children. They miss the life and freedom they used to have. I never felt any of that the first time around. I love having my daughter, and I love the way our family functions.

Now I am eight months pregnant with our son. I am already feeling a pang of things I am going to miss from before giving birth to a second child. We have a system and routine with our daughter that we have grown accustomed to and will surely change with the arrival of a new baby. This is not to say we won’t find another routine that will incorporate our newest addition, but I know this will take a while, and in the interim things will be different.

I was beginning to get used to not making baby bottles, and slowly putting away all of the baby things. Now all of our baby paraphernalia is coming back. Some of it I don’t mind, and a lot of it is very cute. What I dread is the formula and baby bottles (once I am no longer breastfeeding).
Our daughter goes to bed like clockwork for the most part, and having to sleep train another one seems very daunting. I have this idea that because our daughter was/is such a little angel we are going to get a complete hell raiser this time around to make up for it. I know this is completely irrational, but nevertheless I fear these things.

When our daughter was only a few months old she started cooperating with us on levels that would make most parents want to lynch us. This makes me feel that as a mom I am a bit spoiled now and having to deal with an unruly child may be a complete shock. But for the most part, aside from my own foolish what-ifs, I am pretty ecstatic about our newest bundle of joy making his appearance soon. Who knows, maybe lightening does strike twice.