Thoughts on Parenting

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend whose parenting style differs greatly from the way I parented Judah in the early months. She shared with me her philosophy and all the benefits that are supposed to come from her particular style of parenting. What's really interesting to me is that many of the same benefits are touted by the parenting styles I used with Judah.

Before Judah was born, I went to the local library and checked out a few parenting books. The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg really resonated with me. I also went online (in the library since we didn't have Internet access yet) and ordered a tape set and workbook (recommended by a missionary in Africa and a friend in TN) called Preparation for Parenting: Along the Infant Way by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo. The Ezzos co-wrote the Babywise book. The Hogg & Ezzo philosophies not only resonated with me, but they also fit my personality. I needed confidence to be a parent, which is what I gleaned from the Ezzos. I also needed specific, practical advice, which is what I found with Hogg. Both philosophies suggest setting up an "EASY" (to borrow from Hogg) and flexible routine for you and your baby consisting of: Eat, Activity/awake, Sleep, You-time.

Judah fell right into a predictable routine early on, and he's been a "textbook" baby from the start, napping well during the day and sleeping 10-12 hours at night. Miriam, on the other hand, didn't start taking predictable daytime naps until she was 5 months old, and she still doesn't sleep through the night. She's now 9 months. After talking to my friend, I realized that much of what we do with our kids is "according to our faith." We read, we ask questions, we observe, we spend time with other families, and we make decisions about how to parent based on what resonates with us, what seems right to us (as we're guided by the Holy Spirit), and what we believe God is saying to us about our children.

I love being around big families and watching how they interact. More than anything, I've tried to treat Judah as if he's not the only one because I knew there would be more. Now, I'm the mommy of these two radically different little people, and I'm constantly learning about how to become better at what I do. Some days are better than others. Today started out crazy-stressful (a lovely series of cleaning up mess after mess--the last one, the fourth smoothie mess of the morning, this time with shattered glass, left me on the floor in tears) but once the kids went down for naps, I regained my sanity. Judah woke up, and we had a sweet time shelling peas on the porch while Miriam took her second nap of the day.

Now they're both sleeping, I'm blogging, James is baking, and all is right with the world. Well, except for everything that isn't.