What did you do as a parent that you didn't think you ever would? - Page 3

[Parker'smommy]

I never thought I'd

- nurse past a year. I wasnt opposed to it, just didnt ever consider it a possibility.

- co-sleep.

- feel bad about ds being circ'd

- cloth diaper and like it

- have a 19 month old that doesnt sleep through the night.

- want to have a drug free, natural birth for the next baby. When I was pregnant I would tell people that I was all about having the drugs for childbirth. With ds I held out for 18 hours, but then I caved

BUT I NEVER THOUGHT that I'd be part of a Natural Parenting online community like MDC!!!!! THis place has really changed me, not only as a parent, but as a person and woman!!!I feel so more empowered since becoming a member here!!

[jempd]

Bf past a year. Passing the 30 month mark now.

Let him watch Barney at all. The babysitter brought tapes over and that was it. Now he asks for them and I HATE Barney. I even said, No Barney, ever.

Let him eat candy at all. I've caved more than a few times.

Use bribery at all.

When I think of how I thought I would parent before I had a kid, I have a good laugh. Like the title of a book I've seen "I Was a Better Parent Before I Had Kids"

[Naturalmomma]

What a great thread!
I never thought I'd:
birth naturally
breastfeed
co-sleep
sling wear
not circ
not vax
love my 2nd child as much as I love my 1st
actually hurt, when I see another child spanked or yelled at
feel so tremendously protective of my kids
homeschool
wear nursing shirts
cloth diaper
have my life so fulfilled by these 2 little people, that I could never do anything differently!

[mamaley]

I never thought I'd:
*give birth naturally, with a midwife
*totally regret circumcising my son
*letting my son watch so much tv--i always thought he'd never watch tv at all!
*have a son who often doesn't do what i ask...or have a son who is so spirited.
*have 2 children before i finished college
*be in such a happy marriage--my parents had a bad one and i didn't think the words "happy" and "marriage" could really go together.
*have such a messy house--even though i've always been a messy person, and it's much easier without kids! :
*be so annoyed by comments about raising children from people without kids
*love this much
*cloth diaper--really thought i'd never do that!!!
*let ds eat candy and other cr@p (but he eats good food more, so i try not to worry...)
*have my 3 yo sleep with dh while dd (1 wk old) sleeps with me in other bed...i hope this is temporary, i really miss sleeping next to dh.
*lose my temper with ds the way i have.
*be so curious about ds's friends at preschool, what he's doing, what he likes, etc.

[Nemmer]

On one hand, I never thought I'd:
: Let DS watch so much TV
: Lose my patience, at all (that probably sounds arrogant, but I'm a very patient person, so it has surprised me to lose my patience with him!)

But on the other had, I never thought I'd:
Co-sleep -- I knew it was fine for some people, but "just not for us" :
Not even buy a crib for "later" -- I too made the whole nursery set for DS...
Totally regret circumcising DS
Question vaccines
Get so much flack from family members about doing things so differently... :
Love DS's birthmom so much! And enjoy sending her pictures and updates...

[OnTheFence]

absolutely love this thread

I love reading this thread.

I thought I would never have a hospital birth. I thought I would never have a c-section.
I thought I'd never let my babies cosleep with me to I thought I'd never use a crib again (baby no2)
I thought I would never use formula, much less the stuff made by Nestle (baby no2)
I thought I'd never nurse past a year.
I thought I'd never get as frustrated and mad as I have when my children reached toddler hood.
I thought I wouldn't Not circumcise.
I thought I wouldn't vaccinate. (and I do)
I thought I would never cloth diaper (that is gross...lol and now love it)
I thought I would never "punish" my kids.
I thought I never would let my kids watch TV.

[rwikene]

well, I have a pretty controlling personality to begin with...so I never thought I'd:

follow my toddler around the store, what do people think carts are for???? yeah right!!!

not vax

not spank, I mean "I turned out fine" :

let my child be the boss most of the time

let my child be nekkid about 80% of the time at home, and not even care if she pees (or poops ) on the floor, just clean it up

let my child talk back (oh, how does one "not let" a child talk back :LOL)

get so angry with DD over dumb stuff

cloth diaper (ewww gross) :LOL

breastfeed past 1 year

feed DD so much cr@p food, processed stuff...and actually care that I do it.

buy organic crackers, or care they are organic (bunch of hippie parents who buy organic everything )

[JesseMomme]

y

[jannan]

i never thought i'd use a paci......consider homeschooling.....skip the mmr..........research every playground in sf.... and of course, co-sleep

[Potty Diva]

-I never thought I would be so anti-circ
-I never thought I wouldn't vax
-I never thought I would be so mellow about the things Kailey çan' and 'can't' do

-I never thought I would enjoy doing 'nothing' all day with her

And the big one:

I NEVER EVER thought I would let Kailey leave the house with a dirty face or clothes(hey, we play hard and it's not my repsonsibility to pplease the masses).

[luv my 2 sweeties]

Fun Thread!

On the "negative side", I never thought I would:

-- use the TV as a baby sitter while I did other things.

-- allow *any* TV before age two, but by 15 months, Teletubbies was the only thing that would keep dd's head still enough to do her braids. She's biracial with thick, long, curly hair that now -- at age 3 -- takes me 1 to 2 hours to do each Sunday night. (Read: 1 - 2 hours straight of videos on those nights - yikes!)

-- formula feed (due to a combination of factors, dd was weaned at 1 month

-- relax my standards (safety, reading time) as much as I have with my second child. I haven't actually relaxed them that much, but I thought I would not relax them *at all*! :LOL

-- let my baby sleep on his tummy (but it was the *only* way he would sleep, so this one is more neutral than negative, IMO.)

-- have as much trouble being "consistant" with my expectations of the kids as I do. I tend to be quite patient most of the time, but I get very uptight when I am tired or in a hurry. I must be confusing to them.

-- feel like I go days without "getting anything done", especially as a SAHM!

On the "positive side", I never thought I would:

-- *love* cloth diapering

-- cosleep

-- breastfeed my baby in a grocery store in a sling

-- breastfeed past 1 year

-- care so much about organic food that I would stretch my budget to buy it.

-- be able to handle temper tantrums so well. I'm great with my ds's tantrums. (It's my dd's pitiful crying that drives me nuts!!!)

-- homeschool (planning on it)

-- "allow" a child of mine to go past a year without sleeping through the night. Even after my first child, (who slept through the night at 2 months all on her own - no CIO) I just didn't understand women who would "stand for that" :

-- actually be able to function on only 4 hours of sleep for several days on end. But I was sooo tired!

-- be so fulfilled by being a mommy

[somemama]

I never thought I would be such an intactivist, bf beyond six months, or skip vaxes. (See what you people have done to me!!)



PS. I've made dh an intactivst, too! Yea!!

[Nemmer]

I thought of another one. I never, ever, ever imagined myself as DS's poop cheerleader. "Come on honey, you can do it! Push it out! There you go!"