So while I was at ‘work’ (I would use that term loosely) this morning I was sitting around and chuckling to myself thinking about how we knew everything about parenting before Jaxson came along. I was just thinking of that ‘To Do’s and To Dont’s) list that we had always discussed before we had children, and laughing at all of our ‘rules’ we have already broken.

So I thought I would share these with you guys. First, I will start off with our ‘baby’ list and show you everything that has already been tossed to the waste side. Then I’ll jot down our list, that of course we are going to follow throughout his toddler and childhood years!

Keep in mind these are all of the things that we said we would or would not do

PARENTING A BABY

• Never have a baby sleep in our room
• Never have a baby sleep in our bed – Let me clarify, he sleeps IN a bassinet that is designed to sit on the bed. Close enough!! I will justify by saying we do it because we didn’t have a nursery for him (still far from getting one) and his health issues we want him close by. I’m going to be completely honest, yes all of those reasons are true, but really if we did have a nursery for him and if he didn’t have the health issues he does, I think he would still be in bed with us 😛 (Alex may not agree and I may go home to WWIII)
• Annoying parent talk – I am VERY sad to say that we have fallen into that ‘annoying parent’ category. We talk about his pooping, peeing, puking, smiling, babbles, crying, feeding, soothers, toys etc to anyone who will listen. Now is the time when I send out a HUGE apology to our friends!
• Attachment parenting – ok this one makes us/me sound crazy. We DO NOT believe in attachment parenting, however I do have problems putting Jaxson down and leaving him alone. It’s not because I believe this is the way to raise a baby, it’s because he is SO damn cute and snuggly I just can’t bring myself to put him down, ever. (Alex is not on the same page as me, in fact this is a constant argument for me to put him down, lol) And this ties into my next point….
• Our house can be just as tidy and clean as it was pre baby – I can’t put him down, enough said
• We will be just as cool as we were pre-baby, our life doesn’t have to change THAT much – Yay it’s not crossed off. Of course life has changed HUGE but I think we are doing a good job not being ‘shut in’s’. Thankfully Jaxson is so easy and calm we can still pretty much do everything we did pre-baby (yes we know this will change as he gets older)
• Our baby will be the coolest, best dressed baby ever – CHECK!

And here is the fun part when I list off our ‘parenting children’ beliefs for a child. Now don’t get mad or upset by our list, I’m sure a lot will change when we get there!

PARENTING A TODDLER/CHILD 

• NO iPads or video games – We STRONGLY believe in this one, and I hope this is the one parenting rule that we do follow through on. and by saying ‘NO’ I mean very small doses. Our child will not have an iPad or game console. He may be able to use his mommas in VERY small doses as he gets older.
• Outside play – Get the hell outside, run around, ride your bike, ride your scooter, play basketball, jump on the trampoline, just go be a kid!! Explore and use your imagination, love the outdoors, love nature, and appreciate the beauty of it.
• Limited TV – Pretty self explanatory.
• Back-pack leashes – Let’s call it what it is, it’s a leash for your child, and our child WILL have one if needed. If it means keeping our child from getting hit in the parking lot or nabbed in the busy mall, we will have a tether on our kid.
• Physical correction – SPARK THE DEBATE!!! We will obviously tackle that bridge when the time comes but we don’t see anything wrong with using a physical correction to get our child’s attention if other methods are not successful (time outs, loosing privileges etc)
• Tantrums and bad behaviour in public will not be tolerated – It’s a common scene, you are standing in the grocery line, and that snotty nosed child ahead of you is loosing his mind. Mom ignores the kid and this continues forever. This is when you say to yourself ‘shut that child up for crying out loud, that will NEVER be me when I have kids’. We’ve all been there, and you don’t know what it’s like until you are in those shoes. I would like to say that we plan on removing our child from whatever situation we are in, to take them away and put them in a time out. I’ll let you know in 3 years how that one turns out!! hahaha.
• Our child will not be spoiled with ‘things’ – good luck momma!! I think we have already miserably failed at this one….
• No coddling or babying – This one stems from our ‘tough’ jobs. Our kids will know that life sucks sometimes. You have to go through things you don’t want to. For example, going and getting a needle. It will hurt, but you will get over it. You can scream and cry because yes, it isn’t fun. I will be there to comfort you but I will not feed into your distress. End of story.
• Follow through – Alex and I both agree that it is EXTREMELY important that we follow through on discipline, and promises.
• WILL NOT cater to a picky eater – You eat whats on your plate or go hungry. I will not cook different meals for everyone because my child would rather eat fries and hotdogs over veggies and chicken. After all,  fries and hotdogs may be tomorrows meal 😛

Now you can roll your eyes, and be irritated. I think it will be funny to look back at this and see what we do and don’t follow.

It’s so much easier parenting when you don’t have kids!!!

And now for a quick Jaxson update. He is doing fine, still in the hospital. Some of the medications have been totally cut out, and the others have been totally cut down. His sodium levels are starting to come up, and as soon as they are at an acceptable level he can go home. We are hoping this afternoon he will be discharged.