you know those mothers who everyone loves to hate who are all 'oh my child sleeps through the night no big deal.' when the baby is still basically in utero? and their hair is blowdried and make up applied and somehow there are no bags under their eyes and they even have on mom jeggings and not the standard lulu lemon new-mom uniform?
[i was totally one of those moms]. truth times? i was a babywise mama.
[gasp.]
cue the axe throwing. cue the torches. cue the hate mail. but before you press 'post comment'. wait just a minute.
i was 23. and totally pregnant. and it was totally not in the plan. i worked for an incredible mother of two who has it all and then some, including well-adjusted, independant-and-they-know-it, wonderful and respectful little boys. so i asked her for her secret. i had already figured out how to be knocked up and keep things fairly fabulous. but i had only ever held a baby once. one.single.time. at my god-daughter's baptism. for a photo. then passed her back promptly because i was so scared of her crying. with love.
so my fabulous boss casually says 'oh. there is a book. i'll lend it to you.'
the book changed my life. it really contributed to the unique way we raised marcus, alongside enough other parenting books to start either a library or earn me a masters in motherhood 101. i didn't follow it to an organic tee; i used the foundational elements of the theories to shape my own style of parenting.
i breastfed the kid like a champ. and he was a tank so it was not easy to keep him full. i supported him, loved him, and shaped the security and stability in our routine that quickly led to an incredible level of trust and respect in each other. he started sleeping 12-13 hour stretches at 7 weeks and 1 day old. but that was more of a bonus than the best part. i went on to read toddlerwise and pottywise too. and my son has had less than a handful of 'terrible two' tantrums, and woke up one morning at two years and five months and decided on.his.own.without.any.push.or.ridiculous.pressure. that he would start wearing underwear instead of diapers.
to this day, when marcus takes the lead and shows me every angle of the miniature man he has become, i think of that series of books.
and on a side note, the kid sleeps like a hibernating bear. a solid 11 hours at night. and a solid 2 hours during the day. try to wake him? this happens:
so don't judge a book by it's hate mail/hate blog groups/misinterpretations.
and if you do leave me hateful comments, i'll happily respond to them while my toddler is sound asleep.
hate on haters. or, if you want to borrow one of those books, just ask.
-kare
