Perrin's main two offenses right now are pushing buttons on the stereo and pulling books off of shelves. She can be pretty persistent too...she will crawl way out of her way to get around me and whatever I am trying to block her way with to get to the stereo. I try not to kick up too much of a fuss because I don't want her to do it just to get attention. So I just say "no" in a voice that I hope sounds firm and authoritative, pick her up and plunk her down in front of something that is invariably less fun than the stereo. Sometimes this works, sometimes we do this dance three or four times in a row.
The point being, I picked up a few parenting books at the library and have been doing some reading. While I know I could raise my daughter just fine without out research, I do appreciate some good scientific research on baby brains and tested advice from people with experience.
There are three that stood out to me as pretty logical and grounded, but one stood out even from the other two. It was Brain Rules for Baby, How to Raise a Smart and Happy child from 0 - 5 by John Medina. This one was just enough science for people who what to know the WHY of it all. The book refers to a lot of studies and brain research, but isn't dry at all. He is able to distill lots of scientific information into a manageable about of bullet points that you can really focus on instead letting you wallow in so much information that your brain just rejects it all. One of my favorite take aways was EMPATHY. That helping your child develop it is a major advantage for them, now and into adulthood. He also talks about the importance of modeling it for them in your relationships with other family members. Empathy is just good for everybody.
Another book I found lots of useful information in was Simplicity Parenting, Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Kim John Payne, M.Ed This one is about simplifying our kids stuff, the speed of our daily lives and our routines (or lack thereof). Most of what was in this book felt like it really agreed with my instincts, and some seemed obvious after reading it, but it was good to have it stated explicitly so that you could give it conscience thought.
Lastly, I liked Raising a Self-Reliant Child, A back to basics parenting plan from birth to age 6 by Dr. Alanna Levine. This one emphasizes giving your child the freedom to do for themselves that they are able to do on their own-- whether it is feeding, dressing, walking, play. Lots of this felt fairly common sense, but again, I think it is good to give explicit thought to some of these seemingly common sense things, so that you can CHOOSE to have these behaviors instead of probably/maybe falling into doing them.
Ok, P's nap can't last much longer...Here are some pictures of the Perrin happenings this week. Enjoy the weekend!
2 comments:
Great pictures and interesting ideas on raising healthy, happy children. Usually our common sense (well, for most of us) serves us well, but I understand that hearing it from a 'professional' makes us feel better. You're a great mother...keep up the good work! Huh, but I'd rather she didn't eat anymore door stoppers or poo! :-)
Dad was not bothered by her eating the door stopper; he said babies have eaten a lot worse (larger things) than that.
Very interesting topic today...and great pictures....as always.
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