A little rant for Saturday . . . damn those baby hormones!
When do I get my baby manual? Do I have to mail in a rebate coupon? Or is it sent automatically when they issue the social security card? Will it come in the mail like the big ol' Sears Christmas catalogs? Or can I be more eco-friendly and get it in my email account instead? I can't wait to receive it so that I have the instructions for our little Squeaker. Make sure it is the latest edition too . . . I've heard that the experts have changed their minds on certain care procedures in the recent years.Oooohhh...I do wish there was a manual! I just want some book to tell me exactly what to do with Tam exactly when and why. Should he eat, change diaper, then play? Or should he change diaper, play, then eat? When should he want to sleep 6-8 hours at night? How long should tummy time be? How much sleep is too much sleep? How likely is he to get peanut allergies if I have a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich now and then? How much should he eat at each meal? How often should he eat? What is a perfect schedule for him? And then I get frustrated when I don't know the answer or I can't figure out why he is crying this time.
And no matter where I look . . . no one can tell me all the answers for our little guy...just give us generalities for "average" babies. I want definites! And then there are the controversies. Do we vaccinate or not? My science mind says Hell yes! but do we take the chance with the side-effects? One glass of wine is ok or absolute no alcohol? Stimulate the mind but don't over stimulate too early. Sheesh. And I fear it will just get worse! I'm not one who is good when presented with too many choices; I would much rather have definite do's and don'ts.
ahhh...I guess we all turned out ok and our parents didn't have nearly as much info at their fingertips as we do today (thanks internet). People have been raising babies for eons, I guess we'll be okay in the end. Good thing Brian's here to be the voice of reason and to keep me sane when I have these mini-mind farts.
6 comments:
Sweety, that is why I gave you the good old Dr. Spock book...he has been guiding us for generations and I lived by it (and my mother's advice) and you turned out okay! Try not to read too many books on childcare...stick to at least Dr. Spock (and no, Brian, the book is not about the Star Trek Spock). Relax and check the "book" for possible clues as to why, what, when in regards to our Little Tam Tam!
Momma Bear
Just to throw a little more confusion into the vaccine debate:
The big scare is always autism, which was linked to vaccines buy ONE study. Turned out that the data were fabricated; Nature withdrew the article; and the scientist who wrote it lost his job and was banned from all the major medical research labs in Britain. But not before he launched some serious hysteria. I'll hunt around and find you a link for this.
On the other hand, kids do get more vaccines, earlier than they used to. My brother's girlfriend is a kindergarten teacher, and she thinks it does cause kids problems to have their immune systems subjected to so much, so early. She advocates doing all the vaccinations, but doing them over a longer period of time. But that's a single non-scientific opinion.
I gotta go with Dr. Sizemore on the vaccine thing -- remember, the plural of anecdote is not "data". :-) Modern health care, for all its inefficiency, expense, and trends toward fixing everything with drugs so that pharmaceutical companies can make more billions, is still a good thing overall. Most of us wouldn't be here, or as healthy, without it.
As for the baby manual thing . . . we're counting on you to write it for us, Summer! Pay special attention to the chapter on balancing a science career with parenthood. :-)
Hmmm. . . the Baby manual for the sciences . . . I'll think on it. Now I'm all excited to teach about Behavioral ecology this term with the little guy as a prime example (and possible test subject!)
When do I get my baby manual?
If you wanted a Baby Manuel, you should have married Carlos de Tijuana, not Brian of Pittsburgh‼
that is why I gave you the good old Dr. Spock book
He does have the most logical child rearing methods.
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