I have loved parenting books and I have loathed them.
Loved because when searching for an answer these books seem to have all the confidence in the world that they can fix any problem. They then spell out the steps for you to take. Brilliant.
Loathed because sometimes these answers go against your gut instinct (control crying anyone?), because sometimes your baby won’t wake up at 7am like the schedule says (and then WTF???) and because sometimes they cause more problems than you had to start with. Plus you feel like a failure if your baby couldn’t follow these simple instructions like all the other babies in the world.
So I’ve thrown them all out because there are no handbooks for babies. They were right when they said they don’t come with a manual. They don’t.
What you can study up for however is a better you.
Imagine if you were calmer. If you didn’t care what other people thought of your “techniques” with your baby. If you could see your child meltdown and patiently wait it out. If you didn’t make their refusals a big deal.
One of my favourite tips for Mums is that most things are just a phase and gut instinct will tell you if something is really wrong. You just need to get quiet and listen to yourself.
I have the happiest baby alive.
Truly.
Elijah just smiles. Just laughs. Just sits. He is content to just be.
I feel joyous when I see him and am loving taking him everywhere with me.
He is having a phase at the moment. One where he gets up sometimes after midnight and is pretty unsettled till dawn. A phase.
A phase where I don’t try to change my baby. Who knows what is going on – an age for separation anxiety, teething, he has a cold, maybe its too hot.
Instead of trying to change him, I need to adjust me. More rest, remove what I can from my diary, more meditation and more love for him.
It will be over soon and instead of trying to change him I decided to support him in whatever he is going through. That was my instinct and yours may be different.
The big thing we need to understand is that that is ok. We all stumble along blindy on this path of parenthood but we should support each other, listen and not judge. Everyone has their own journey and we all love our children.
I received a copy of Parenting with Heart & Soul from author Kelly Burch the day I wrote this,
“The door opens and the stench of chlorine slaps you in the face. The noise level assaults your ears and the heat prickles your skin, opening your pours and inviting immediate sweat stains onto your armpits.
The pram is full, two children in one seat and your other child is trying to drag one side of it to the ground and you struggle to balance it. The massive swim bag on your right shoulder not making the task any easier.
All around you people are talking, cajoling, and pleading with their children to get in, to stay in, to listen to their teachers.
$17 a lesson. This figure imprinted in your brain. Important but expensive…and when your child doesn’t jump in the pool gratefully this figure seems to glow red in your brain and cause a short-out….
Yes. I’ve been a parent screaming at my child to get in. I’ve got my jeans wet trying to cajole him into the pool and I’ve discovered a better way.
A calmer way.
A more loving way.
A kinder way.
Let them be. Be there for them.
Something is spooking them. Something has worried them. Something is scaring them.
Throwing them in and begging the teacher to not let them back out is not getting the results we want.
A confident, happy swimmer who absolutely will not drown if thrown unexpectedly into water.
It took less than three minutes of Leo sitting on my lap until he wanted to go in the pool. Gone is the tyrant I was with Julian, replaced by a calmer happier me – who is not pushing.”
Weeks later when I opened Kelly’s book I saw pretty much the same passage in her book. I believe Kelly and I and our idealistic view of parenting are the same.
I say idealistic because what you think and your actions can at times oppose each other and Kelly honestly admits this in her book.
Tomorrow is another day and you will be one step closer to being the kind of parent you want to be.
Kelly is an EFT practioner. That stands for Emotional Freedom Technique or tapping and is one of the leaders in her field, and mostly aims her technique at Mothers.
This book is less of a parenting manual and more of a “How To” for EFT. Her parenting nuggets in here are gold however and is worth a read even if you think EFT may not be for you.
But if you are curious Kelly has this definition on her website…..
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a method of gently removing blockages in the energy system to improve how we feel. As an EFT Master Practitioner and Trainer Kelly uses Energy EFT, which is focused on the fact that we have an energy body and we are giving our energy body attention (with our energy hands as we tap).
o
* gentle
* powerful
* effective
* transformational
* evolutionary
* easy
* enjoyable
I have a copy of Parenting with Heart & Soul to give away so if you think this sounds exactly like something you need then comment on this post with your favourite piece of parenting advice. Winner announced Valentines Day.
Can’t wait to hear your comments!!
Great article Nicola. I am going through some similar issues at home. Been toilet training and have learnt to be patient and listen to my little one.
My advice would be to Listen to your little ones, go down to their level and try and understand what they want (even when they don’t know what they want). And most of all end the day with lots of cuddles and love 🙂 That is what works for us xx
Love the end of the day advice! Good luck with the toilet ing!!!
He is the happiest wee man so your on the correct track for both him and you , love him yo bits x
Oh this book sounds great! Off to check it out. Have been using eft with both my girls for past six months, mainly before bed. I’m very much still learning but it certainly brings them calm. Miss three loves it and often says “mummy tap me, tap me” when she gets into bed 🙂 just breathe is my parenting mantra / best advice I have received – reminds me to calm and slow; and to savour the little moments xx
That’s awesome!!
What a happy, handsome boy! I am very intrigued by EFT and would love to learn more. I am a mother of 4 – a 5-year-old daughter, 3-yr-old daughter and 1-year-old son and daughter. My favorite parenting advice is “give it 3 weeks.” I have found that most transitions or phases need about 3 weeks to work themselves into a new normal. I was chatting with a friend who is a new mom and she was struggling with her little one waking in the night when he had been sleeping through. I encouraged her to just wake with him, nurse him, cuddle him and give it 3 weeks. It’s so hard to navigate parenting, i find it even harder to stick to someone else’s series of “rules”.
Love your advice I think we think very similarly x