Resistance

Remember that part in Meet the Fockers where Robert DeNiro says they've been using the Ferber method to teach Baby Jack to self-soothe and then Dustin Hoffman says We used the Focker method. We hugged and kissed that little prince like there was no tomorrow. We Fockerized him...? I loved that and have been thinking about it alot lately.

I was thinking how when you're a new parent you get really caught up in the right way to raise that baby. At least I did anyway. I was all according this book, I should wait until X number of months before I start feeding him solids. And then when things didn't go according to what was documented, I was like okay, what's wrong with my baby? What did I do wrong? 

But then when you have a second baby, those books get dusty and you rely on a combination of what worked last time and what you have the energy and resources to do.

Well I'm sort of feeling that new mother anxiety again but with my three year old. I know that he needs to stop using his soother and start pooping on the damned toilet before I head back to work in three months but a big part of me wants to let him be, let him enjoy this last bit of time at home without forcing him to let go of the last remnants of babyhood all at once.

I encourage him to go at his own pace. There's a lot he probably should do on his own but when he resists, I don't fight him. For instance, he only recently started showing interest in dressing himself. Before he took the initiative, I never pushed him much.

Maybe he's not the only person resisting. It could be me too. I'm in no hurry to see him become independent from me. He has the rest of his life to do stuff for himself.

Can you tell I'm ready for Spring to show it's face over in my neck of the woods? I couldn't bring myself to throw those branches away so I took out my gluegun and hung some sea shells from them. They were just sitting around doing nothing anyway.

I'm joining Shell over at Things I Can't Say.