"I will never do THAT with MY kids"

 

"I will never do that with my kids!"  Admit it!  You have said this statement (or thought it) at one point in your pre-kid life.  Or, chances are, if you don't have kids you have probably said it today.  Well, I'm guilty!!  Let me give you an example.  "I will never let my kids sleep in bed with me...ever".  Turns out, the joke's on me!  But when your kid gets up at the crack of dawn...scratch that!  More like before the crack of dawn!  Your first instinct is to plop him in bed with you because you are so tired and desperate for another few minutes of sleep and you tell yourself, "just this once."  But let me go ahead and spoil the ending for you.  That wake-up call gets earlier and earlier until the next thing you know, you're getting toddler toes to the face and it isn't even midnight yet!!  What the heck just happened?!

In my defense (here come the excuses), we took the binky away from the poor kid and he was left with nothing to help him get back to sleep when he woke up.  We thought we were rock star parents when he would only take the binky for naps and bed time, but all it took was a little thing called hand foot and mouth disease (I know, gross!) to get me to give in and give it to him while he was sick (excuse #2).  And he was attached again.  Then that big confident pat on the back you gave yourself went away in an instant and there goes your rock star parenting status.  Again, what just happened? 

 

So, we went cold turkey with the binky and let's just say, we are now going through "sleep training."  We are not only teaching him how to fall asleep on his own, but also trying to avoid the need for him to come into our room in the middle of the night.  I. Am. Exhausted.  But I have to remain focused and consistent.  Take notes, moms!  Turns out, consistency really pays off!  Instead of coming into our room now, he calls for me when he wakes up.  Not the end result we are looking for yet, but definitely progress!  And let me go ahead and put it out there.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with your 3 year old sleeping in bed with you.  It just didn't work for us.  If I ever have any advice, it would be to do what works for you and only you!

So needless to say, once you become a parent, all of your "I will never"  plans, become survival plans and you just end up doing as best you can.  So do yourself a favor and stop thinking "I will never" and start thinking "I will".  As in, "I will love my kids and take care of them as best I know how".  And while you're at it, take time to tell a mom what a great job she is doing.  I'm sure we could all stand to hear that! :)

 

Here are some throw backs of my Binky Baby