So my resolution for 2008 was to decrease the amount of yelling at my children, and it was basically a success. Probably, the kids maturing and turning 3 years old also helped. I have to say, the “terrible twos” are a real phenomenon. In general, I learned this year that the best and most difficult virtue to have as a parent is patience.
My resolution for 2009 will probably be easier. I am banning all parenting books, blogs, and articles from my sight. After being a parent for 3 years, the best advice I can give to other parents is not to read parenting advice. There is nothing more contradictory, judgmental, and anxiety-provoking than the crap that is out there. I am speaking of sites such as Parentdish, which used to be Bloggingbaby. I stopped reading this when the kids were 2 months old. I have come across hundreds of other sites however, and 90% of them are awful. I’m still trying to research pediatric advice sites, to try to have some things to recommend to parents–90% of these are really bad as well.
I totally agree…I hated the Baby Whisperer, it made me feel like I was doing a terrible job. It made me nuts!
Hi, Agnes and husband
I got your link from Alfred when I connected on Facebook. Looks like an extensive journal you have here. I would like to do the same, meaning to anyway with photos and writing, someday whether it’s scrapbooking or online. Anyway, hope you had a chance to read our family’s Christmas letter update on Facebook under my Profile. It’s the only thing online that I update nowadays.
As for the parenting advice, which is why I’m writing this in the first place, I really never read much. I mean I read “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” that my sister gave me, but it wasn’t only average. She’s also board certified in physiatry. My other medical family – an ER doctor, two dentists and a pharmacist – never gave me any advice. And I read The American Academy of Pediatrics childcare manual, which again was so-so.
The books I’m impressed with and use are Christian-based, particularly Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, and the whole series (from prenatal to age 17) by Gary Ezzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam. They’re simple, practical, short books which are easy to do, commonsensical, and ACTUALLY WORK. The bottom line of all the books is that parents are the center of the family, not kids, and that discipline is necessary to grow a healthy child.