(but it doesn't have to feel like a life sentence)
You are a Parent, period!
Yes, Parenting Is For Life, but it doesn't have to feel like a Life Sentence.
You have heard the expression: "Kids don't come with a set of instructions". Well, it would not have mattered much even if they did, in my case. There were so many things to know and remember about raising kids, that reading the instructions would have only made me more confused than I already was. I am better at actually doing something than reading about doing something. Unfortunately, by the time I start to understand one step in a set of instructions, it is time to move on to step #10. So, if my kids came with instructions, they'd still be in diapers and I'd still be sterilizing bottles, because I never got to a point where bottles and diapers came naturally to me. I never quite got the hang of it
My first, a girl, had Colic. WebMD Health describes Colic as:
"the extreme end of normal crying behavior in a baby between 3 weeks and 3 months of age.1, 2 In a baby with colic, the crying lasts longer (more than 3 hours a day), occurs more often (more than 3 days a week), and is more intense than expected for the baby's age. A specific cause has been identified in only 5% of babies with crying typical of colic."
In layman's terms, that means that pediatricians have NO idea what colic is or what causes it. What is worse, they have no idea how to stop it. And neither do parents.
Well, my daughter must have been a medical mystery, because she cried for 3 hours every night for the first 9 months of her life, and there was not a thing wrong with her. I held her; I walked back and forth while holding her. I tried giving her a bottle, but she would push it away. The pediatrician tried changing formulas to something with soy in it. That did not help. I got many gray hairs that first year, but there was a silver lining.
She turned out to be a great little kid, a better teenager, and is now graduating from an Ivy League College. The psychologists at school tested her in first grade and she had an IQ one point below Genius. She loved to read and she loved to learn, and was an A student all through school, with little or no effort on my part. She just loved learning. She always had a book in her face. I could not have asked for more. However, she still was not perfect. No child is, I suppose.
You could not play board games, cards, or video games with her unless you lost all the time. She was a bit of a sore loser. She reached her pain-in-the-neck teenage years a little later than most. She is in that stage now. She is away at college, thinks she knows everything about life, and you cannot tell her any different. Nevertheless, that is okay, because my 12 year old is at that stage already.
My middle child was also quite pleasant to be around. She smiled and laughed a lot and you could keep her occupied for hours without much trouble. Sadly, the trend with this marvelously happy, sleeping baby did not last.
Turned out, she was just putting on an act until her younger brother was born when she was fourteen months old.
She was the whiner. The one you always heard about when people would casually mention that boys are rough-and-tumble, but girls are whiners. My daughter lived up to the reputation and went beyond it as a toddler. It is 12 years later, and she is still whining. Only now, it is a much louder, more irritating whine.
You would think that once you get past the bottle-sterilizing-and-diaper-changing-stage, things would get a lot easier for parents, right? Think again! There are worse stages to come. There are a few better stages ahead, but there are definitely worse ones. I remember thinking, 'I can't wait until I don't have to change diapers, and they stop drinking bottles. Things will go much smoother'. Yeah, right!
Here is a list of a few of the stages my kids went through, and are going through now.
I found out later, after getting a puppy, that there are these nifty little inventions called baby-gates that adjust to any width. They are all you need to prevent your little crawler from crawling up the steps. That is unless they are also inept at climbing over things. Knowing about those gates would have saved me a lot of running up and down chasing after my two.
{These stages coming soon!}
I-Would-Rather-Stay-Home-With-You-Stage
Homework?-What's Homework?-Stage
Privacy-Is-Priority-Stage
I'm-An-Adult-Now-Stage Visit Another One of Muldrake's '24' Pages This page is dedicated to the POW/MIA's from the Vietnam War who are from my hometown. These brave heroes never came home and their bodies were never recovered. Where are they? Don't they deserve to be buried on American soil? I have 'adopted' these men and the pages will remain until they all come home.
This page includes the names of all the men on the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. I also included the inscription that appears on the wall in Penns Landing. Philadelphia is a large city, but there are just too many names on that wall. They sacrificed their own lives for freedom. This is my way of honoring them.
My tribute to the greatest country in the world, and to the heroes who fight for its freedom everyday. I am proud to be an American, and I am extremely proud of my fellow Americans who put their lives on the line fearlessly and selflessly, every day, to make America what it is.
My favorite baseball team, that just happens to be the best baseball team of all time!
My concern for the many homeless animals in shelters that desperately need a family to call their own.
My interest in NASA and the early manned space flights.
I have even had a few articles published. Are you a writer? Perhaps we can share some ideas.
What can I say about this group of sniveling, whining pansies? Plenty! I despise them as mush as the sign-carrying clowns from the 60's. I have some suggestions for these people.
This is a page for the people who are sick of being politically correct. It is also for people, like myself, who are tired of being blamed for all of the woes of the world. Have you offended someone today? I'm sure I have!
Who's to Blame for 9/11? How about the homicidal psychopaths who flew planes into the Twin Towers? Shame on the 9/11 Commission!
In the Pledge, on our money, and outside the courthouses. Funny that now on television, they can say any filthy, obscene word they want, but we can't say God in school or in the courthouse. Please!
I hate this man. His documentaries are edited and distorted solely for the purpose of making money and feeding his face. He is a loud-mouth nothing and I wish he would just go away
Here are some other things I'd like to see banned.
Growing up with an alcoholic father, I can't help thinking how these commercials send the wrong message. It makes people think it's cool to act stupid and so I have a few ideas for some ads I would like to see the beer distributors show to the public.
More of my opinion on the 9/11 Commission
This is a brand new page I started, just for fun. Ever have trouble with the three Major Credit Bureaus; Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion? Has your Landlord filed a Complaint against you? Has a Judge
My Favorite Parenting Links
Scholastic - Welcome, Families
Parenthood.com
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This is a page I put up after the 3rd season finale of American Idol!
Where Is Harry Kalas When You Really Need Him?
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