Currently listening to: The Queen is Dead by The Smiths (the song The Boy with the Thorn in His Side might be my favorite Smiths song ever)
Reminds me of: Highschool. I had a friend when I was in highschool who lived right around the corner from me. His name was Nathan (not the one I married) and we carpooled together. He was kind of a recluse, but we'd hang out at night sometimes. One night I was sitting on my bed right in front of the open window writing in my journal. I was also listening to a Smiths album. The tape stopped playing (yes, it was a tape), but the singing kept on going. I squinted out the window and there was Nathan, sitting on the ledge singing. I went outside and we spent the rest of the night wandering the neighborhood, talking. He was one of the strangest friends I ever had...
Yesterday we stopped by Borders so I could pick up yet another book about child-raising, this one on how to develop good sleep habits in a child. I read the parts that applied to a baby Judah's age, and came away discouraged because he doesn't seem to follow the patterns described, and also the book didn't outline very well how to put a sleep plan into effect. I wound up the evening in tears (again).
Who are these people that write these books? How do they know it all? And how are they all so sure that their method is the best? There are tons of books out there and they all have different ideas, and they all have all these testimonials about how their method works every time. Demand feeding or scheduled feeding? Apparently, both work equally well. So the only conclusion that I can come to is that all methods work, unless the parent is a complete idiot. I read a story of one woman who said that when her baby was eight months old he was still waking up EVERY TWO HOURS at night to eat. A couple of questions: first, wouldn't you realize that there was something horribly wrong with that schedule when most babies that age are only eating about 4 time a day and sleep 12 hours a night? And secondly, how was that poor woman not dead from keeping up with the feedings? I would be strapping myself into a straight jacket.
After last night Nathan gave me an ultimatum: "No more books. They make you cry." I think he's right. From now on, I'm just calling my mom.
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6 comments:
Slightly off topic but I had to draw the line with my wife as far as watching Animal Planet. They are always showing some malnourished, abused, three-legged dog with mange and halitosis - which makes her cry. I had to say "no Animal Planet."
You could call me if you wanted. I won't have much advice on the whole kid thing... but I'm fun to talk to. =)
I might take you up on that when I'm totally discouraged in the middle of the day some day!
Good idea. Your mother probably knows more than any one of these so-called experts.
Hope you don't mind me barging in here... following the trail of blogs. You're sooo right - every baby is different and all the books work for someone. If you're not a complete idiot (which I know you aren't) you can usually go with your gut, try a few different things, and figure something out! Moms are always good, too, if only for a shoulder to cry on.
Thanks for your encouragement, Wendy! It's good to see you around here. :) And I can always use advice from those who have gone before. And my mother's shoulder is completely waterlogged by now! I cry on it at least once a week. :)
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