Blank Slate Parenting

Parenting is definitely an eye-opener when it comes to understanding babies and kids, especially for those of us who knew nothing about them to begin with.  Lexi is [obviously] my first born;  I have no nieces or nephews, never did much babysitting growing up, and our friends only started having babies a few months before us, so I was a bit of  a blank slate when it comes to these tiny humans.

Because of this, when I read articles about how to parent a “strong-willed” child, I get confused…there are some kids that aren’t stubborn and contrary?  I mean, shouldn’t this article just be called “How to Parent”?  And then it starts to dawn on me that, wait a minute, Lexi is more difficult than others?  Is it something I’m doing?  Because when I look around, I think I’m doing just as well as many parents out there.

Of course, nothing highlighted this mentality so much as when Lexi wasn’t sleeping through the night at two months…then four months…then six, seven, eight months.  When she was about three months old, we were still going to Mommy & Me classes, and I remember sitting next to a couple moms talking about losing baby-weight.  The girl right next to me was tiny – I was pretty impressed with her post-baby shape, especially since her baby was only about 6 weeks old.  She then went on to say that she stays in shape by getting up at 6am before the rest of the family and going on a run.  Record scratch.  Unless she means that she puts the baby back down at 4am, then gets up at 6 to run before the baby is back up at 7am,  I couldn’t wrap my head around what this woman was talking about.  Then she explains that her SIX WEEK OLD was sleeping from about 8pm to 8am.  I looked down at my 3 month old and thought about how I got about 5 hours of broken sleep the night before…the idea of even taking a walk was exhausting, let alone sacrificing sleep to go for a run.  It was then that I began to realize I got the short end of the sleeping-baby stick.  The next 6 months just confirmed it.

In the past 12+ months I’ve gotten used to the constant surprises of how different kids can be, even at this young age.  Some are good, like Lexi’s great dexterity and problem-solving skills, some make me worry, like her communication progress, while others just make me shake my head and laugh, like her independent and adventurous personality.  I was a blank slate, but the things I’m learning about children are constantly growing as well as being debunked.  As much as I am looking forward to the adventure that lies ahead when we go for baby #2, I have a feeling my head might explode when I see how different two siblings can be.  Maybe next time around I’ll be that mommy of a newborn on those early morning runs.