I tried writing on some of the topics that were going around for the blog carnival, but was only ever able to get about 1/2 a post drafted before the next topic came out. But everyone loves a good secret, right? I suppose it's not too late to share some parenting secrets, in bullet form since it's probably the only way I'll get anything out.
- My kids are really, really awful sleepers. We didn't do any sort of sleep training with them when they were young. We found out early on that they could be settled pretty quickly if they were brought into our bed. Since we lived in a 1 bedroom apartment for the first year of their lives, it was difficult to attempt any sort of sleep training since the kids could see and hear us when we were in bed. And we couldn't just shut the door to their room and let them cry it out, since they didn't have their own room. So we did what seemed easiest in the short term. We became accidental co-sleepers. At 15 months, the kids are still nursing to sleep every night. They have very little / no ability to self soothe. I have not had a good night sleep in ages. My love and I can not go out at night because I am the only one who can put the kids to bed. I love my kids, and co-sleeping is nice sometimes, but I would really, really love to go out at night and have some grown up time.
- You know how everyone says that if you're breastfeeding, you'll start leaking anytime you hear any baby cry, even some stranger's baby in the grocery store? That never happened to me. Not even when my own babies cried. In my postpartum-sleep-deprived-crazy- hormone state, I worried that this meant I was a bad mother or just not in tune to the needs of my kids.
- I feel guilty about my daycare. I don't think the kids are getting much stimulation there at all. It's set up so that all kids 6weeks-18months are in the same room. The toddlers in that room just seem restless. I am worried that I am doing a disservice to my kids and that they are not where they should be developmentally, but it's the only place I can afford. I'm not just talking $50 or $100 savings here. If we sent them to any other place, I'd literally have to get a second job just to send both kids to daycare.
- There are some times when I really wish my kids would watch TV. I've tried a few times to get them interested if I need to distract them for a few minutes, but so far have had no luck. Please kids? Just watch the little red monster with the funny voice for 10 minutes...please?
