Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Mean Mommy

Why yes, yes, yes.....I have begun this entry over three times now but constantly find myself getting interrupted. Now I can truly understand Virginia Wolf's concept of "A Room of Her Own" but that has only come after 3 months of being a mom. And how my life has changed in these short 3 months that have flown by so quickly.

My girl is growing and changing every day along side with her Momma who is constantly being reconditioned and taught how to keep her control freak tendencies in check. It's amazing how much I have changed since Motherhood begun. I was reading a site on Monday that really struck a cord with me. It was about different parenting styles and discovering which one will make you the most popular at your Mommy and me group. If I did attend a group? I am pretty sure that I would not be well liked. I am positive I'd be labeled as a "Mean Mommy". This is based on all that I read on other Mommy blogs, you know, the "Nice Mommy" labeled ladies out there. I'm not like those other hip, cool, nice mommy's. Case in point:

Camille and I have never co-slept, I have always had her in her crib with the occasion co-nap together. But mainly? I cruelly threw my girl in her big cold scary crib. And if you can even believe it, she sleeps much better and peaceful on her own, in her own room. When she wakes up in the morning she never cries but rather coo's and talks to herself until I come in.

Do you want to know how I got Camille to sleep through the night? At 8 weeks? Brace yourselves, I let her cry. OH MY GOSH YES!! I actually allowed her to cry, the indignity of it all. The blogging mommy's out there must turn me in, really. But yes, I never played the "It's 4 a.m. let's play a game", instead I'd rock her, burp her, kiss her and lay her back in her crib. She would complain for a minute or two and off to sleep she would go. Now she has learned to sleep straight through the night only waking occasionally but drifting back to sleep a couple minutes later.

But, yes, I do let her cry every once in a while. But what I can't decide is if I'm following Ferber's method or the Attachment Parenting method. For her naps, she likes to fight them. So, while she is screaming hysterically I typically will cradle her in my arms while I let her cry it out. Sometimes I have to lay her down crying and rub her back. But I'm still letting her cry out. On one hand I loose major points with the "Nice Mommy's" but then I gain them back because I hold her while screaming, right?

My point here really is to say, if you read all the other "Nice Mommy" blogs, and then come to mine, you will quickly learn that I just don't play those games, really. I do what is right at the time for Camille. I am not opposed to any technique, I give them all a try. We are an equal opportunity get the baby to stop crying and start staying on a schedule type of people. And before you run to the head "Nice Mommy", looky here, does she look like she's really being raised by a "Mean Mommy"?


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