August 20, 2004 - 12:27 p.m.

I don't know how to write this. Blah. :) I just got off the phone with someone from church. She's really a wonderful person. I was telling her about how my pregnancy was going and all. (that's a big thing but I'll wait till AFTER the ultrasound on Monday to actually say anything here) And she started telling me about this wonderful book that offers great advice and it really helped them out. It's by christian authors and it's just wonderful. I finally asked her what the book was and who wrote it. It's a parenting book by the Ezzo's. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that method of parenting has worked for some but I've heard so many bad things about it PLUS it totally didn't work for us as a family. And when she told they were Christian, she sounded a bit like that was a selling point for that style. Like it MUST be the right way to go since the authors are Christian. That kind of thinking just drives me nuts. But hey, if that style of parenting works for them, go for it.

Not for us though. We tried that way and I couldn't handle it and Schuyler couldn't handle me! LOL. Greenbean would cry to nurse and then I'd cry because it wasn't "time" to. Schuyler just brought her to me and said "Nurse her already! She's STARVING!" I knew at that point that nursing on demand was the only way any of us were going to keep our sanity. That and having her sleep close to us. Whether that means sleeping in a crib in our room or in our bed. Although Greenbean didn't start sleeping with us in bed till she was about 9 or 10 months old.

Sure we get the looks of rolled eyes and the comments like "She needs to be sleeping in her OWN bed" or "You're going to spoil her" PUH-LEASE. Do they even know that when I put her in her crib, she sits up and screams bloody murder at the top of her lungs? No. Of course not. And, when have you seen or heard of a teenager who sleeps in their parents bed every night? Let me see, NO ONE. And besides, we want to enjoy our kids when they are little because we know as they get older, they will want more and more independence. They will need us less and less. And they are only small once.

Sorry about that. When people try to tell us about their parenting styles and how it's the only way to go, I just get irritated sometimes. Usually, I just smile, nod and walk away. We know what works for our family and no one is going to change that, even if they are Christian, Christians are human and make mistakes. But God knows exactly what's going on and He doesn't mind that our kids sleep in bed with us or that Greenbean is still nursing at 13 months. It's what values you instil in your children that are important not if you let the sleep with you in bed. And God doesn't make mistakes.

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