Parents have to make a thousand decisions everyday regarding their child from the day they find out they are pregnant. Some of the decisions probably won’t make a huge difference in the child’s life.
But, some will follow the child into adulthood.
There is SO much advice out there.
The whole “It takes a village” saying is really taken to heart.
Everyone seems to know best, you know?
How do you make a decision for yourself without offending everyone who did it a different way?
Don’t get me started with the people who know best and don’t have kids yet.
(Oh wait…I was one of those people just a year ago.)
I am struggling with just how very large the village is now-a-days.
The internet makes it just so easy to share opinions and advice. And, don’t get me wrong part of it is wonderful and amazing. When X is sick I go straight to the web to see how to deal with things.
I remember posting a Facebook update in the beginning weeks that read,
“How did parents do it before Google?”
But, the other side of the whole web thing confuses and frustrates me.
I am having a hard time dealing with all the advice and wondering if I am doing enough for my child.
Of course that brings me to the Time’s article on attachment parenting that has got the whole web in a tizzy. Motherhood and parenting is taken so very seriously. And, maybe it should be taken seriously… but, is one way really the right way?
Every parent I know (and, most parents out there) want to do the very best for their child.
There isn’t a handbook out there that fits every child.
My post is one of many posts from bloggers and mothers asking why can’t we all just get along. Has it really gotten to the point that we need to ignore the advice of even our friends?
Should we stop giving advice? Should we stay quiet about the decisions we’ve made?
I certainly don’t have the answers. I’m just trying to be the best parent I can. I’m trying hard not to judge others and trying even harder to not take others decisions as reflections on my decisions.
This brings me to the start of a semi-regular series on parenting called “It Takes a Village.”
I want the series to be an open discussion for people to say what they do. I want it to reflect the many different ways things can be done. I hope that if in the middle of the night a parent is struggling with their baby not sleeping, or biting while breastfeeding, or peeing their beds they can Google and find an open discussion that might help them find the right answer to their problem with their child.
If this is a discussion that you would like to be a part of then I would greatly welcome your stories/advice. Please contact me and we’ll get to work on trying to make the web a more parent friendly place to be!
