Monday, June 16, 2014

The care and feeding of children

Ally of Even Miracles Take a Little Time recently commented:

It's so funny. You get a big brand new TV and you get a 1000 page how to. You have a child and they say ok here she is and good luck and a hug.  Thank GOD for parenting books and the internet, I think !? 

True dat!

To borrow from a joke about economists, the problem is that one can go to ten different sources on how to deal with this or that problem and get eleven different answers!  For example:

--- How much should she eat?  On what sort of schedule?  WHAT should she eat?

--- How much should she sleep?  On what sort of schedule?  What if she doesn't act tired: should she still go down?  What if she DOES act tired long before she's scheduled to go down?

--- When should we start potty training? (my wife is working hard to break me of using the term "house breaking")

--- What about play?  Am I a bad parent because I do / don't put on educational videos or let her play by herself or try to guide her play?

--- I gave her a math book and even opened it for her.  Should I worry that, instead of trying to work some problems, she started chewing on the cover?

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!

Whether to give her chicken or fish for lunch shouldn't be such a hard choice!

4 comments:

  1. Happy (belated) Fathers Day Jim.
    There is a lot to "figure" out about kids!
    Each is an individual - some need more or less than others. Just figure out what Caroline needs and it will all fall into place. That's what I keep telling myself !! Hehe
    I am sure you guys are doing great
    Ally

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    1. She's making a lot of progress, and most of it (if not all) is due to her own efforts. It's both interesting and a joy to me to see how she improves day by day. Each day, for example, the bib and high chair are a bit less messy (the dogs aren't pleased about this!), her mobility improves, her understanding seems better. Just this morning she picked up her comb and attempted to comb her own hair. It's a remarkable thing. I don't know where she SHOULD be for her age; maybe she's a bit ahead, maybe a bit behind. All I know is that she's incredible to me.

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  2. Yes yes yes!! I call mine the goldfish factor when it comes to meals, and I don't mean the crackers. "What if I feed her too little? What if I feed her too much? A goldfish will die. What if that happens or I set her up for serious food issues in the future? I found a book called... "The Toddler Handbook"!!!! This should be required reading for all first time parents adopting a toddler. It address how much a toddler should be eating, when to begin housebreaking (she's tinkled on the floor already), And other stuff we had questions about caring for a toddler. The illustrations have provided much belly induced laghter too.

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    1. Thank you for the tip. I'll have to get a copy as I can use both any help I can get as well as a good laugh!

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