So your at the end of your tether? Strung out and on the knife edge. Well join the club, literally... You are not alone, you are not a failure, there is NOTHING wrong with you or your child for that matter. This is the reality of parenting in all its terrifying glory, 99 parts utter infuriation and 1 part miraculous success. If you believe everything you read online, then it should be as easy as 1,2,3 right?
Sleep training? a breeze. Breastfeeding? a doddle. Keeping your sanity? easy peasy.
Well the good news is that saying parenting is easy is the biggest lie ever. Its not easy, its a full time job, with no time off for good behavior, no overtime pay, no sick leave, no danger pay. It is a job, but its the best job in the world, with the GREATEST job satisfaction ever.
The bad news is that while your bundle of joy will love you unconditionally, they will fight you every step of the way without even intending to.
There are no rights or wrongs to parenting, no foolproof methods, only trial and error and what works for you. What I am trying to do here is give you real information that is not going to make you feel inadequate or a failure, to give you options that will help you to forge your own path on your journey to be the best parent you can be.
Search engines are the first line of defense for parents these days, if you feel sick while your pregnant, your on google before you can blink. When your checking your stage of pregnancy, onto the net you go! When your child has an unidentifiable rash? you check with webMD. Not that Im complaining of course, as the internet has brought you to me and begun our beautiful relationship. The internet is your saviour these days, that bottomless chasm of information, that web of new contacts, of answers and questions. The important point of course is which information to trust in isnt it? Well the answer to that my friends, is unanswerable, sadly. You have to take each item of info, and use your own judgement to decide whats right.
Saying that though, the MOST IMPORTANT THING that I can tell you, is that you must NEVER use the internet as a substitute for a real doctor, if you or your child is ever ill, by all means look it up on the internet, but please, PLEASE! get to a real physician.
I do hope this is the start of a beautiful relationship between us, from one mental parent to another... I salute you!
