Sass and Sippy Cups

I am always the first one to say “let your kid do it.”   It’s always been my thought that if you rob a child of that pride of mastering a new skill, you might be damaging their self-esteem. Or even worse you might be raising an entitled little brat who expects that the world will do everything for them for the rest of their lives. Yes, I went there. Now, letting your child be independent is no easy task. It takes patience (and sometimes a strong stomach) to let your child learn new things that could potentially hurt them, and when you have a kid like mine with a mind of her own, you don’t even have a choice.    Take the other day for example. I’m sitting at my kitchen table scarfing down a bowl of oatmeal in the five minutes of quiet while she watches TV. My inner monologue went something like this: “Ah, quiet. I can have my coffee and my oatmeal and…. HOLY CRAP. Quiet? Not good.” So I ran into her room and what do I see? My 19-month old had used the computer...

Mommy Rant: Babyproofing v. The Strong-Willed Child If you have kids, you know that as soon as they’re mobile, the pediatrician asks you if you’ve “babyproofed” the house yet. Working in a daycare, the concept made total sense: bolt furniture and move things the kids could hurt themselves with. Common sense, right? Now that I’m a mom, I’ve become convinced that the concept of “babyproofing” is a gimmick created by baby product companies to get you to spend money on things that might not even work. Here’s why. From the time I first felt my little one kick, I knew she was going to be one tough cookie.   I was working at a child care facility at the time, and the class had a child with some impulse control issues.   During one particularly violent episode, he gave me a good kick in the abdomen. And you know what? SHE KICKED HIM BACK. From that moment on, I knew I was in trouble. She also flipped us off and stuck her tongue out at us in a sonogram, but I digress… ...