Everyone has them, right? Those things you really want to do when you have kids, and nothing will detract you from it, sohelpyouGOD! I know they’re probably a bunch of crock and that the most important thing is to love your kids, to be flexible, and to be constantly there for them. But I kinda think it’s good to have some expectations and hopes for yourself in advance.
1. Cloth diapering from day one. Yeup. I’m planning on having plenty of disposables around for travel, emergencies, and moments when it would just be dang easier to have a disposable around. But for the rest of the time I’ll be rockin bumGenius’. Not only will we save money in the long run, but oh gosh… what those disposables are doing to our earth!
2. Breastfeeding. I know it’s not always possible, but I am hopeful that I’ll be able to breastfeed. Good for the baby, and really good for me – in lowering my chances of breast cancer. And cheaper! Three cheers for cheaper!
3. Spaced-out vaccines. Yup, our kid will get all of the necessary vaccines – that’s SUPER important. But not all at once. I’m hoping to find a great pediatrician that will let me space out the vaccines and come in more frequently so there are fewer vaccines in each sitting.
Is it because of Matt’s line of work and a fear of Autism? No. Sorry, but research has debunked the theory that Autism is linked to vaccinations. Frankly, your Baby Einstein videos are probably more to blame.
The reason I want to do delayed vaccinations is because I think it’s important to watch for reactions to vaccines, and it’s harder to do that when your kid has had 5 shots in one day. Plus, I couldn’t handle 5 shots in one day, so why would I submit my kid to that?
4. No TV til age 2. I know, this makes us the strangest back-woodsy people on the face of the planet. But studies continue to conclude that early childhood development is best when there isn’t exposure to TV before age 2. It would be really easy to become that family that always has the tv on from dawn til dusk, and I really don’t want that to happen. Plus, who needs kids TV shows when you could be dancing to the Beatles?
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This is HUGE for us. We just don’t want a ton of baby junk. We don’t feel it’s necessary to have millions of toys everywhere, and bottle warmers and video surveillance systems. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It works for some people, and that’s their prerogative. But Matt and I just don’t want all the stuff! We’re going to take any and all hand-me-downs that we can, and because of that we only have 21 things on our registry (Wait, you already have a registry at three months? More on that another day…). I just want to raise low-maintenance kids, and I’d rather they have a library that rivals the Library of Congress, than to have endless toys and baby gear. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
6. Spending lots of time romping with pets outside. I’ll admit that this one has a lot to do with the fact that I personally love animals and I personally love being outside. But I think it’s really important for kids to get fresh air every day. I also think it’s really important for them to play in the dirt and be surrounded by animal germs and allergens to build strong immune systems. Kids spend way too much time inside, and they need to get their energy out and roll around in stuff. But I promise to clean em up and wipe em down with Purell before they come to your house.
7. Southern Manners. So it will be a while before the kid in my womb is running around chatting it up, but one thing I love about people down here is how polite they are. We’d like to teach our kid to do the whole “Yes, Ma’am/No, Sir” thing, and just about every adult we meet will have a title before their name. I love that about kids down here, and I want that little piece of Southern charm to rub off on my family.
These are just the first few things that Matt and I have discussed, and I guess it sounds pretty old school. But I really believe that less is more, and I don’t want my kids to wind up like Gen Y brats. What hopes or expectations did you have as a first-time parent?
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 pm
1. Don’t drop the baby.
2. Don’t tickle them til they cry.
3. Don’t grab their ankle from under their bed to surprise them.
4. Don’t be an idiot making faces and noises at them in public.
5. Desetin or vaseline, but not grape jam.
6. Hold off on all alcoholic beverages until they can skip. (you, not them).
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
what Pops said, except for number 4. When they become tweens, DO do number four. As we’ve been discussing, very VERY important as parents to be as nerdy and weird as possible during the childrens’ adolescence, so as to ensure that they won’t have to go to great lengths to rebel against the parental figures.
and I’ll leave you with Uncle Floyd Sullivan’s only house rule, which I have also adopted for my children:
“Don’t be a jerk.”
oh and one other thing from dear old Mags…….if and when they do watch tv, consider limiting it to PBS. yes, for educational purposes, but also to limit their exposure to advertising. Advertising in this day and age sucks royally. All of it is just TRASH TRASH TRASH!!!!!!! And, it turns kids into little materialists.
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
matt’s probably going to try the old grabbing the ankle from under the bed to train his kids to be as jumpy as he is.
mags, agree w/ pbs! or they can watch c-span if they’re feeling really adventurous.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 pm
guess that means i’ll have to return that gps-enabled cell phone i just bought for your new babe? bummer. it was a black friday sale.
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
so as to accomplish your TV goal, make sure you don’t have any kind of cable TV, and what stations you do have must have crappy, sporadic reception. then make sure your books are beautiful, shiny and at eye level.
when it’s your baby’s turn to catch rotavirus, switch to disposable diapers.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I had a list pretty similar to yours. It is still pretty much the same but things change as you get a hang of the parenting thing. Keep an open mind!
December 5th, 2009 at 1:41 am
We didn’t let our oldest watch tv until he was almost 2 as well. Of course, him turning 2 meant his little brother was 6 months old. And since blindfolding him wasn’t really an option, he started pretty young…
December 7th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Number 2…. makes the weight loss much easier!!
December 30th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Love, love, love BumGenius. However, I did not start on day one. Too much poop and not enough time in the beginning to worry about washing every day or every other day. I started about 4 weeks in.
December 30th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
think i’ll probably wind up soing something similar. i want to get the hang of some other stuff before worrying about all that laundry!