So today I put my son down to sleep for a nap after a full morning of playing at the park with my mom's group. As I was sitting on the floor next to the crib singing him to sleep, I started thinking about how many mom's might not quite agree with the fact that I was still helping our almost two year old fall asleep. It also made me think about how those same mom's probably wouldn't agree with the fact that we don't put our son down to bed till around 9:30pm or even 10:00pm and that his crib is in our room and after the first two hours of him sleeping in his crib he comes into bed with us and sleeps the rest of the night till morning. Yeah... there are a lot of things I don't think other mom's would agree with. And every time I begin to doubt the way we are doing things and begin to wonder if maybe we should be doing things a little more like everyone else... I look at my precious sleeping boy and realize... Nope... there's no way I'd change a thing.
These are our special moments... these are the moments we are going to all remember. When I'm old and looking at my grown son... I'll be able to see the precious baby boy that he once was and remember the way he used to drift off to sleep, slowly closing and opening his eyes, the peaceful way he would breath and how his tiny little hand would grab onto a section of my hair with all the strength he had even though he was fast asleep. I'll remember all the mornings I would wake up to a little hand brushing the hair away from my face and seeing my baby boy smiling as I open my eyes and laughing instantly as I hear him say "Hiya Ma!". Nope... there's no way I'd change a thing.
I guess you could call what we do "Attachment Parenting"... and I've heard a lot of parents express concern over the fact that parenting this way will create children who are too dependent and too attached to their mom/parents. I can tell you already that this is not true... My son is the most independent 20 month old I've ever met. This morning at the park as I was cautiously following 2 feet behind him as I'm sure many first time moms tend to do... He turned towards me and waves me off and smiles. I stood in place and allowed him to go keeping my eye on him. My son is already turning into a strong, independent young man who I am very proud of... and knowing that someday soon, after only a blink of an eye he will go off and live his life calling me as often as he can because he knows I will worry about him... Nope... there's no way I'd change a thing.
These are our special moments... these are the moments we are going to all remember. When I'm old and looking at my grown son... I'll be able to see the precious baby boy that he once was and remember the way he used to drift off to sleep, slowly closing and opening his eyes, the peaceful way he would breath and how his tiny little hand would grab onto a section of my hair with all the strength he had even though he was fast asleep. I'll remember all the mornings I would wake up to a little hand brushing the hair away from my face and seeing my baby boy smiling as I open my eyes and laughing instantly as I hear him say "Hiya Ma!". Nope... there's no way I'd change a thing.
I guess you could call what we do "Attachment Parenting"... and I've heard a lot of parents express concern over the fact that parenting this way will create children who are too dependent and too attached to their mom/parents. I can tell you already that this is not true... My son is the most independent 20 month old I've ever met. This morning at the park as I was cautiously following 2 feet behind him as I'm sure many first time moms tend to do... He turned towards me and waves me off and smiles. I stood in place and allowed him to go keeping my eye on him. My son is already turning into a strong, independent young man who I am very proud of... and knowing that someday soon, after only a blink of an eye he will go off and live his life calling me as often as he can because he knows I will worry about him... Nope... there's no way I'd change a thing.
