Through the Seasons

…there is no right answer.  And I’m slowly learning to live with that.

I want to know when/how to feed the baby.  So I look it up or read books.  And they all differ.  And attack each other’s philosophy. 

I want to know the best way to discipline and when that starts.  I read books.  Some Christian.  Some not.  They all differ.  There are some books that literally don’t agree on anything.

I want to know when/how to potty train (eventually).  There is even an unbelievable difference here too.  One says not to start too early and another says not to wait too late (beginning the process at 12 months!).  So which one is it?

Should the baby sleep in the bed with us?  Some say never.  Some say always and he should be weaned from our bed around 3-4 years old.  (Yikes!)

How long to breastfeed?  Weeks, months, years…  Everyone has an opinion.

I guess I’m crazy to try to listen to any of it.  I mean, God isn’t handing down the “right answer” to me.  Why do I think they have the secret? 

It’s like buying a diet book that claims they have now discovered THE way to take weight off and keep it off.  Yeah right.  There is nothing new.  There is no secret.  There is no magic formula.  We all deep down inside know the right answer to that question and, again, there is no one way to do it.

Like raising children I guess.  Discover who they are, discover who we are as parents, pray a WHOLE LOT, and do the absolute best we can.  I think I’ll stick with the Bible and Holy Spirit as my guides and ditch the books.  Well.  Maybe not ditch them entirely.  (Look at me turning over a new leaf and resisting my black and white tendencies!)  I’ll just take them with a grain of salt.  And rejoice if I ever do find anything (anything) with one, absolute, right answer when it comes to raising children.  That would be remarkable.

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I’m going to take a risk here but I’m really curious.  I’d like to know your thoughts on feeding an infant and getting an infant to sleep.  Now, I’ll warn you.  I’m just gathering information and will eventually make my own decision so don’t be offended if I don’t take your advice.  Obviously I can’t follow all advice I’m given because there is never agreement between everyone across the board.  Or if you don’t have advice, what resources would you recommend?  I’ve read 2 books on these subjects and they each have absolutely opposite views.  The debate is scheduling feeding or not; letting your child cry to sleep or not…that kind of thing…

Thoughts?

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