Be Better

When you know better you do better
-Maya Angelou

Parenting should really just be called, "Making lots of choices in a sea of overwhelming information that everyone else will judge you for no matter what you do."

Let's face it, no two people parent alike. Even spouses have big differences. We should celebrate the fact that kids are all unique because of how they are parented. Instead, as parents, we judge one another, disrespect individual choices, and attach guilt to things that are truly none of our business.

I'm an outspoken mama with big opinions. I know I come across as overly confident, but honestly, that's because I don't do wishy-washy or uncertain very well. It's a side of me that stays off the blog...

I'm also quite an extremist according to some, and I'm OK with that. I don't wear any of my choices like proud badges, really, I don't. If I blog about them, it's for the sake of education. I get lots of questions and a few "Why the hell would you do that?!" comments, so I blog. It hope they help people who are wondering how/why I do somethings, and I don't blog to defend myself.

OK, that said, there are some parenting choices that completely pain me to see other parents make. I don't say anything unless something they're doing is blatantly illegal. I even bite my tongue if what they're doing is potentially dangerous because their choices are none of my business, in the end. 

All I ask is that you do your research, don't rely on what you find on Facebook or even a cursory Google search, and ignore your friends' tidbits for the most part. I know it takes more time than listening to comments on facebook, but isn't your kid and family worth more than that?



Here are the "big" ones for us that I urge everyone to really research:

1) Car seats: Make sure they're properly installed, make sure you're fastening the harness correctly, and make sure you are confident in your choice to be rear-facing or front-facing.

2) The products you bring into your home and use on your children:  Just because you get it from your doctor or from Target doesn't mean it's safe and non-toxic. If you can't pronounce an ingredient, leave it be. Babies have a much higher surface area to volume ratio meaning things absorbed in their skin affect them much more. 









Fun facts:
I learned the prenatal vitamins that my doctor had prescribed when I first was pregnant contained nearly illegal amounts of LEAD. Seriously.

BPA isn't the only dangerous chemical that leaches out of plastics. Minimize plastic use at all costs. Don't let your kids chew on plastics. There are so many other options. Avoid using plastics in situations with thermal flux such as heating leftovers or a water bottle left in a car.