Before Perrin was born, I used to say I wasn't going to let him watch TV until he was at least 2--and then, only on rare occasions. I didn't want the passive stimulation of television to inhibit his development in any way. (All the other parents reading this are already laughing, huh?) Yeah, so guess how long that lasted? About two weeks. I was having a really rough day with Perrin and I finally plopped him down on a blanket on the floor and turned on a baby DVD that someone had given us. I just needed a few minutes away from him to breathe deeply. But after a few minutes, I realized he wasn't crying. I peeked around the corner at him and saw him deeply engrossed in the colors and shapes bouncing across the TV screen.
Needless to say, I have reformed my wayward opinions about the television. It's a God-send!
So now I'm wondering how many of my other good intentions are going to go the way of the dinosaurs. I had all kinds of ideas about things I would or wouldn't do:
"I'm going to teach Perrin baby sign language!"
"I'm not going to rock Perrin to sleep because I want him to learn to fall asleep on his own."
"I'm going to read Perrin a book every night so he'll develop an early love for reading."
"I'm not going to give Perrin a pacifier because I don't want it to affect his teeth."
And on, and on, and on. But my visions of "good parenting" are rapidly becoming "good enough parenting." And you know what? I don't even feel guilty about it. I was probably placing too high of expectations not only on myself, but on him as well. So what if we have to rock him to sleep every night? He's so warm and snuggly and cute, and he loves being rocked to sleep. So what if he never learns baby sign language? I can usually figure out what he needs anyway. He's happy, well fed, and well loved. That qualifies for good enough in my (slightly reformed) opinion.
Television can be pretty educational too if you do it right. Especially PBS! Tyler has learned a lot of things faster because i work with him and let him have fun learning. Of course, theres more ways than television.
ReplyDeleteBut, you should definately teach him baby sign language! it would be super cool if you wanted too. : )
<3 Casey
I think he probably has plenty of time to learn sign language. He can join Piper in staring at me blankly while I do the sign for "mama" 100 times in a row! :)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way! I was so judgey and such a perfect mom before I had kids. Most of the time now if Piper isn't filthy and screaming I feel like I am doing a good job.
Also, rocking to sleep is awesome. We can't handle the crying it out, so we're with you on that one, too.
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