bebes

i came across a couple of blog posts about this book, and i'm really excited to read it. wes and i have talked about parenting a lot lately (duh).

 bringing up bebe sounds like the parenting style we've talked about, and i guess this book just kind of validated me. with all of the guilt in american parenting about not doing enough for your child or being involved enough, it's nice to see this book getting so much attention. it's OKAY that i'm not constantly in elsie's face stimulating her brains out.

as a shout-out to my mom, the kind of parenting described in reviews and other things i've read about this book sounds like the way i was raised. i knew my mom cared about me and loved me, and we did things together. but she didn't wait on me hand and foot, and she wasn't always up in my business. i took a few classes/lessons, but for the most part i was just allowed to be a kid. i was also expected to act like a human being. my mom was not crazy involved in my life, she was a stay-at-home-mom who still had her own things going on, and i turned out to be a well-adjusted adult.

which i guess just goes to show that this kind of parenting isn't necessarily "French," it's just common sense. my mom and i have talked about this a lot since i've had elsie. i think because our culture is so saturated with "experts", studies, books, and advice, we feel like we have to take our parenting cues from those sources rather than what we feel is right. i'm not sure where all this hyper-parenting came from but it seems to be damaging to the kids and the parents. there is so much negativity about motherhood...like you have to be this run-down mess because you're constantly trying to meet your kids needs. obviously some days are hard, harder than i can imagine at this point since my child doesn't do anything but sit in her chair and coo at me, but your life doesn't end when you have a baby. and having a baby isn't this SO HARD huge sacrifice every day. motherhood is inherently a sacrifice, but there is a balance. i think people are probably laughing at me right now saying yeah well just WAIT until elsie's a toddler! or until you have two! which maybe one day i'll be eating my words, but that's just what i'm talking about, the negativity and the dread. obviously i have to be realistic, but i think i dreaded motherhood for awhile because i just imagined everyday being this huge hassle, when it isn't. having a two-month old has changed my life, but not drastically. i know my life will continue to change and adjust gradually as she gets older, but it's nothing i can't handle.

lucky for me i have an excellent mom, sisters, and sisters-in-law who are great examples and give me balanced, realistic, and positive perspectives on motherhood.

blah blah blah i am RAMBLING. but this is the stuff i think about now.

anyway. i'm excited to read it.

kiss kiss.