The Only Parenting Advice You'll Need
The only parenting advice you'll ever need: Do whatever works.
Prior to kids I had grandiose ideas of how I and my child would act. I would never have to raise my voice, always cook homemade meals, breastfeed for at least a year and my kid would never be disrespectful or throw a tantrum.
And then there is the reality of having a child.
Sometimes I raise my voice, sometimes he throws him self on the ground in a fit of frustration.
My son really is a great baby, most days. However, he was just awful the first two weeks of his life. Screamed constantly, woke up every hour in the middle of the night and breastfeeding was incredibly painful due to a lip tie that he has. Though I was enduring the pain of breastfeeding and feeding my son up to ten hours a day (Yes! I was exhausted) he never seemed satisfied. So at two weeks I decided to heck with those grandiose ideas I am doing whatever works!
Whatever will make my baby happy I am going to do!
So I disregarded all of the baby advice that everyone was giving me and decided to go with my gut. I decided to pump and mix formula with my breastmilk thinking that maybe that would satisfy my sons appetite. I know! So taboo! And you know what? It did work for us! My son slept for about three-four hours after he had his bottle during the nights. He was no longer fussy and screaming when awake.
He was the baby I had hoped for.
So now when I have friends who just had kids and secretly confide in me that they gave their kids non organic baby food because they were busy or they comfort their kids or let them cry in the middle of the night I tell them the only parenting advice they will ever need to hear "DO WHATEVER WORKS."
This doesn't mean that we let our kids run the show and we give up all authority allowing them to become little animals or do anything that would hurt our babies. Oh, no way! But it does mean that we will do whatever we have to, even step away from our prior assumptions and pride, to do what is best for the family.
If that means not breastfeeding for as long as you had hoped then that's fine. Do whatever works best for your family, because your family unit is entirely different than mine and the next persons.
Though I am a stay-at-home mom there are just some days I just don't feel like chopping and cooking a gourmet dinner for my family. I'd rather sit on the porch, read books with my son while my Red Baron(ness) pizza cooks in the oven, because we all know that the new Red Baroness is the ultimate wing mama who has your back. And ya know what? That's okay. It's whatever works for you and your family.
So, to all the new mamas out there. Don't be too hard on yourself if you aren't doing everything you had planned to do as a parent. It's ok! This motherhood thing is one great adventure with all kinds of unexpected twist and turns.
Sometimes the best thing is sharing our motherhood war stories with one another to remind each other that there is no such thing as perfect parenting. Red Baron is embracing the parenting community and wants you to share your war stories with other moms using the hashtag #wingmama on Twitter. Three of my readers will have the opportunity to win a free Red Baron coupon when they join the #wingmama conversation and share a war story!
And since you deserve a night off, grab your Red Baron pizza here.
