I really, REALLY do not care.

What other parents do. 


Today I planned to tell you all about how I had to strip Lucy's cloth diapers on Monday, but I've been bombarded with sass ever since my post on CIO, and now I feel obligated to set the record straight - not just on the whole CIO thing, but parenting styles in general. (ETA:  This is not directed at the lovely ladies that commented on the CIO post)


I DO NOT CARE what other parents do with their kids.


I don't care what you feed them (breast milk or formula).


I don't care when you start solids (4 months or 6 months or anywhere inbetween).


I don't care how you diaper them (cloth or disposable or straight to underwear).


I don't care if you do or do not vaccinate.


I don't care how you put your baby to sleep each night (Cry-It-Out, comfort nursing, in the swing, whatever) OR where your baby sleeps for that matter (in their crib, in your bed, or in a dresser drawer).


Do you see where I'm going with this?  I hope so.  I'm not saying that I don't enjoy conversing about these things, because I do - I really do!  But when it comes to thinking about it after the conversation has ended and "judging" the other parent's choices, my logic is pretty simple and pretty straightforward:  Not my kid, NOT my problem!


Maybe it's because Lucy was the best surprise ever unplanned, that I didn't have time to decide beforehand what kind of parent I wanted to be or what was the "best" way to parent.  Maybe it's just the sheer desperation to keep my baby happy, that I'll exhaust any means necessary.  But I believe we parent the way we do because we love our daughter.  


We all love our kids.  We all want what's best for our kids.  And since all kids are infinitely different from one another, our parenting styles and choices have to be too.


When I hear the words judge, judgey, or judgemental, I laugh.  If people honestly think that I have the spare energy or brain capacity to even think about what they're doing with their kids, they're even more sleep deprived than I am. 


How do you feel about judgey moms and dads? 

(Guest Blogger: Meghan) A Healthy Competition

Today's guest post comes from Meg over at Phase Three of Life.  Meg is a good friend of mine and a fellow new momma.  I like to stop by her blog on the daily for a chuckle and to stare at my future son-in-law.  I encourage all of my lovely readers to do the same!  (the chuckling, not the staring)


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I'm not a very competitive person. In fact, I sort of shy away from competition.

All those stories about soccer moms/dads who lose their minds over whether their kid's team was scoring enough or playing adequate defense? Yeah, so not me. I'd be the one on the sidelines with a cooler full of beer, relaxing in my lawn chair, enjoying the nice day.

What? You can't bring beer to your kid's soccer game? What is happening to America??

But then one day last week, Mike came home with a challenge. He'd picked Ryan up from daycare, and the teachers had pointed out the door to his "classroom." It had been decorated with white paper plates that had little red and blue baby footprints stamped all over them. Each classroom had decorated their door in July 4th patriotic fashion.

Aw, that's nice.

Oh, but it's not just nice. It's a competition. You see, photos of each door had been uploaded to the daycare's Facebook page. The classroom with the most votes was going to win a "special prize."

I immediately flew onto Facebook, liked the page and liked my kid's door.

Then I commented with a "Let's do this!"

Our door - the Infant "Pods" - already had about 35 votes and was just a handful of votes behind Classroom #9: The Preschoolers. Each of the other doors only had a few votes each, so it became clear pretty quickly that the Infant Pods and Classroom #9 were going to battle it out.

I fired off a Facebook message to 35 of my closest family and friends.

Then I sat and watched as the first few votes started to roll in. As the day went on, we surpassed Classroom #9 and slowly began to distance ourselves.

They attempted to rally, bringing in several new votes. I strategized with Mike, telling him to hold off voting so that we could use him as a last-minute tie-breaker, if needed.

But my friends and their Facebook addictions proved too powerful for those Preschoolers. The Infant Pods prevailed, with a crushing final score of 74-65!

As you might imagine, the babies were beside themselves with excitement and pride. And Ms. Jen happily reported to Mike that they won an ice cream party!

I won?  Really?

Wait. Can a 9-month-old even eat ice cream?

I think I got too into it.