When I knew everything...

A friend of mine wrote a blog about all the things she said she wouldn't do when she had her daughter that she now does.  It definitely made me think about my own self expectations prior to motherhood.  Before I had my son I pretty much knew everything about being a parent.  I knew how I was going to handle every situation, approach any difficulty, and I was sure that I would follow my exact plan!  My mother of the year award was in the mail before I even held my son because DUH I had so much experience being a parent!

I, of course, followed my plan to a T....that was until reality set in and I had a choice to either stick with the plan or maintain my sanity!  Here were some of my guidelines PA (Pre Aiden)...followed by the reality of AA (after Aiden)

PA:
There are toy, rattles and mobiles that are meant for babies...we said we would never let our children play with our cell phones, cameras or the remote control.
AA:
It seems like as soon as Aiden could reach for objects he was reaching for the remote.  I am not sure what the fascination was but I remember telling my MIL several times that Aiden was not allowed to play with the remote.  I was dead set that he could not play with it but that is really the ONLY thing he wanted of ours so why not!  Well then we both bought smart phones that were touch screen and could play videos.  Both Leif and I held strong for a good 6-8 months on the no cell phone rule however when he began to despise car rides, dining out, and anything else that lasted more than 2.5 minutes we found that watching videos could occupy him for more time than we could have ever imagined.  I now record things on my phone that I know Aiden will enjoy watching.

PA:
On the "toy" front... I had heard horror stories of parents searching high and low for their car keys.  I would never let my kids play with my keys...#1 I will buy them there own toy keys and #2 GROSS...do you know how many germs are on those keys?
AA:
Aiden is addicted to keys...the first thing he grabs when Daddy comes in from work?  KEYS!  I remember when Aiden was having blood drawn at one of his appointments and he was screaming his head off...Leif said "maybe we should give him the keys"...really?  In front of the Drs??? GASP!  I would never let the Dr know that we let our son suck on keys....the Dr. look at me and said MOM, give him the keys?  She proceeded to tell me that he had more than enough stomach acid to kill any germs on the keys...THANKS DOC!!!

PA:
I will only breastfeed for 1 year.  I am not going to be one of those mothers that is breast feeding their teenager haha!
AA:
OK So I WILL NOT be breastfeeding my teenager however Aiden is now 15 months old and STILL breastfed!  One of my many blessings was the blessing of Momma's Milk!  I have never had a problem producing milk...in fact, I could probably nurse the whole neighborhood if need be!  The plan was to stop or at least begin weaning Aiden at 12 months however when we found out that Aiden was allergic to milk and struggled to get him to eat solids therefore slowing his weight gain, I knew it would be a struggle.  To this day Aiden will not take a bottle and he will not drink any form of milk (soy, rice and almond).  He won't even take breastmilk in a cup...has to come straight from the tap!  So my boy is still breastfed...

PA:
I won't be such a prude about leaving my child so that I can have "ME" time.  LONG before I even thought of being a parent I just knew that I would be OK with having a sitter every now and then.
AA:
After everything we have been through I find myself extremely hesitant, maybe even somewhat fearful, of leaving Aiden for any length of time.  The most I have been away from him was probably about 6 hours and that was for an event with my husbands work.  "ME" time is a thing of the past and that is just fine by me...I am not sure if I will ever be ready to leave him...I think the more time I let pass the harder it will be but just the thought of being away from him overnight throws me into panic mode...

PA:
We will NEVER Co Sleep...this was a mutual decision that Leif and I made that we felt was right for us...some people swear by co-sleeping however we decided against it.
AA:
Despite the many sleepless nights, the hours of rocking, and the laps around the house with Aiden in tow we have stuck to our guns.  However, to be COMPLETELY honest, Aiden has joined us in the bed at 6am on a weekend...when the exhaustion set in and the choice was get up at 6am on a Saturday or let Aiden snuggle until 9...we caved!  NO, this isn't technically letting him sleep in our bed but it does go against what we said we would never do!

PA:
I would NEVER let my child walk around with food on his face or clothes!  How hard is it to take a wipe to the face or make a quick change of clothes?
AA:
Aiden is pretty good about letting me wipe his face.  Changing his clothes, well that is another task!  Aiden, like alot of kids, likes to be naked....he is a busy busy boy and can't be bothered with changing his clothes...and you know what?  He is right...he's a kid, he's a boy, and he is going to get dirty!

PA:
Being the "proper" people that we are, HAHA, we would never let our child eat directly off of a restaurant table.  We would always be prepared with and have the time to wipe down the table, let it dry and then of course we would carry a place mat to put down as a barrier.
AA:
Sometimes we have a matter of miliseconds to get Aiden in the highchair, buckled and food in front of him before he gets bored and has a meltdown.  I do carry wet wipes and try to wipe the table however in emergency situations I just refer back to the advice from my Dr...his stomach acid will kill anything that my wipes didn't.

PA:
Our house would still be "put together".  The toys would be contained to the toy room and all baby stuff would be put away.
AA:
I will refer back to my sanity...some mornings Aiden will wake up early and just coo and hang out for a bit while I "get up and get moving" and some mornings he just wakes up screaming.  On those mornings I stumble up the stairs, bring him down to our room, and let him play in his toy basket that we have in our room while I fully wake up, gather myself, go potty, you know, all of the things that you do right when you wake up.  The basket has grown and his "downstairs" toys now encompass a whole corner of our room.  As far as baby stuff...the wipes, desitin, diapers and tylenol sit out and I am OK with that...it's much more convenient that way!

I am SURE that there are many more things that I just swore I would never do...consider this post "To Be Continued"