Dear Mothers-To-Be

Just to let you know, at one point, we ALL had pretty high ideals on how we would raise our babies. Things we would NEVER let them do, see, watch, own, etc. I am reminded (daily) of oh-those-awful-things-I-would-never-buy when my daughter is playing in "her office" every day, something I said I would NEVER own, and if I ever did, it would NEVER be a fixture in our living room (along with a swing, and a bouncer too). HAHA. Jokes on mom. It's funny to hear moms-to-be planning their parenting approach, knowing that in a good 4 months, they will have completely tossed that approach out the window, realizing how unrealistic those ideals were...

Now, I am thanking my lucky stars for this horrifying, gigantic piece of plastic that entertains my daughter long enough for me to take a shower, fix a salad, MAKE THE BED, and for the love of God sit down for 5 minutes. I love this office. And yes, it typically sits in the corner of our living room (gasp).

Lucca enjoying her "office"

Other things on the list of "I would never":
1. Use a Pacifier - I've discussed this before....l-i-f-e-s-a-v-e-r. Parents who are against these are just crazy. And by the way, shoving your pinky in the baby's mouth every time they cry is the SAME THING as using a paci, people. Actually, way worse.
2. Watch TV - hahaha, Lucca would NEVER watch TV. Ever. Ever. Ever. She should be building with wooden blocks or learning to play a musical instrument instead, right? HA. Our favorite show right now? Sid the Science Kid on PBS. Enough said.

3. Electronic toys - Gross, just gross. Anything made of plastic that made ANY kind of noise or lit up was on the Do Not Buy list for my baby. And you guessed it...our Top 2 favorite toys are 1) the blinking stop light that entertained Lucca the entire way to New Zealand and back and 2) the Talking Caterpillar, that stops any baby I've ever met from crying. Including middle of the night screaming-bloody-murder crying. That caterpillar lives in my diaper bag, for JUST IN CASE moments. It also has become THE toy I buy any new mom.
4. Nurse my child to sleep - what a terrible habit to start. Just atrocious. Yeah, this is the way Lucca pretty much goes down for every nap. Where is my worst mother of the year award?

The list goes on. New mothers, beware. Your perfect parenting ways just might change once you actually become a parent. And I wrote this as a reminder to myself to not judge that terrible mother at the grocery store, who promised her super annoying kid they could watch Elmo if they would just stop screaming at the store. What kind of mother would use bribing tactics? ;)