My coworker is awesome and lent me the book ‘Beyond the Sling’, which is about attachment parenting. Attachment parenting involves but does not need to include all of the following: co-sleeping, babywearing, no TV, gentle discipline, baby using potty since birth, no one but the parents watching the children, and breastfeeding until the child decides they want to move on. I’ve only gotten about thirty pages into it, but I’ve read a few blog entries by the author, seen some interviews, and read a few reviews, so I have a basic handle on what the book is going to be about. It’s a book that is a guide but claims to not be a guide to attachment parenting. Bialik (author) says in a recent blog post, ‘I did not write a parenting book’ yet in the book she writes, ‘This is not that kind of parenting book.’ Notice how it does not say that it’s NOT a parenting book, just a different KIND of parenting book. Plus the face that the subtitle says ‘a real-life guide’ also points to the fact that this is a parenting book.
Bialik confesses that she and her husband have gone on three dates in six years. She is proud of this fact; this is working for her. I would personally need more separate, out of house time with Husband than that. But, honestly my question is how they’re doing it if there are two kids constantly in the bed with them and I am seriously interested in finding this out. I say, I love Husband, I love having sex with him, the kids are staying in another room. Because you know what? I felt completely loved and cuddled by my parents and I did not have to sleep in the same bed as them to get that. I view cosleeping as an extreme when there can be a moderation (for instance, if kids wake up at 5 they can come join parents in bed until 7 — Siblings and I did this a lot with my mom when we were little kids and my dad left for work; we would also cuddle with our mom in her bed before bedtime).
Parenting is crazy, it is different for everyone, and there is no one ‘right’ path to raising confident and loving children. I don’t think holding my newborn over a toilet or letting my two year old sleep in bed with me and Husband is going to change their outlook on life.
Also, I’m swinging the other way about having kids (not bc of this book but other factors we’re currently dealing with right now) and I’m thinking I can wait til I’m 30 to have kids! Much traveling to be done by Husband and me.
I’m sure I will rant (or possibly rave) about this book as I read more of it.
PS: We signed the lease for another year at our apartment and NO RENT RAISE! We were super nervous about that but our landlord is the best (mostly because we’re the best and don’t bother her!).