I'm Not a Stepford Mom

"If you were try to follow all of the parenting advice you’ve read or received in the past 16 months or so—never bribe, don’t yell, brush your kid’s teeth twice a day, ban TV, read to your baby around the clock, ditch the bottle at age 1, avoid saying “no” too much…the list goes on and on—you wouldn’t be a parent, you’d be a Stepford robot."

The previous quote came from an e-mail I got from parenting.com and isn't it the truth??? Half the time I worry I'm doing some kind of irreparable damage to my daughter. I'm on the phone and she watched TV? I forgot to brush her teeth? I didn't read to her today? In the midst of a busy schedule, things like this pop into my head when I don't do what I "should" be doing.

Really, I find it to be a daily challenge to keep it in my head that not following all the advice all the time will not hurt my child. The truth is that life is busy and stressful and sometimes I won't be able to do what the experts say I should. Reality is that Alexis will see some TV during the day, miss a book reading and sometimes not get teeth brushed. Will it kill her? No. I can't run around like a crazy, stressed out mom piling on the mommy guilt when things just don't happen. I need to step back, breathe and relax. Anyone want to join me?