The Advice I’m Glad I Took

Fourteen years seems like a long time unless you’re a parent. Since I had my first son, time has been flying by without my permission. Now that cute little dude in a car seat is about to drive his very own vehicle. He’s making decisions about his classes based on his future career. What? Hold on, how did that happen?  When I think back to being a first-time parent, I remember very little of the advice I was given. Mostly because in my sleep-deprived state, I remember very little period. But there were some words of wisdom for which I will always be thankful. Here they are.

Park by the Cart Return

It seems weird that this is number one, right? But I’m telling you: Someone at my baby shower said to me, “Hey, I know it seems weird, but don’t worry about parking by the grocery store, worry about parking by a cart return.” This is the best advice ever. Until someone develops my idea for a drive-thru store that only carries: formula, diapers, apple juice, and milk, we’ll have to drag our kids inside a store. If you park by a cart return, your life is infinitely easier, especially in Midwestern winters. Groceries are put in your car, your cart return is right next to you, and now you and baby can get in your car quickly and without much fuss. This one is so important. 

Sleeping Single

This is super controversial, and I’m going to give the caveat right now that co-sleeping works for so many people. Those who have done this will stand by their decision and they should. For my family, however, giving everyone their own sleeping space was crucial for my sanity. I do try to give all of myself to my kids, so the half an hour slivers of alone time in the morning or after the kids go to bed are important. Giving kids their own beds allowed for my family to have a solid bedtime routine, and my children to have mostly uninterrupted sleep. They have their own space and so do we. In the crazy that is early parenting, this advice gave me some much-needed sanity. However, I know many co-sleeping families who wouldn’t want what they have going any other way. This just worked for our family.

Use Karo Syrup for Constipation

Don’t act like the constipation of an infant doesn’t ruin your life for the few days that it’s around because it does. Parents worry about bowel movements, and what to do when #2 won’t happen, and that tiny human’s tummy pains. With my first child, we had a very old school pediatrician. He came from a family of ten kids, and he had a vintage school way to fix all problems. He suggested squirting about a teaspoon of Karo Syrup into my babies’ bottles if constipation showed its ugly head. I took his advice, and within a couple of hours, all body parts were in working order again. I was not a “do it yourself” thermometer mom…if you know what I mean, so this worked like a charm.

Countdown to Leaving Time

My kids have always liked being out and about with their friends. So, whenever I needed to drop the reality bomb on them that we were leaving a fun situation, every single one of them would act like the world was ending. For a while, I told myself they hated their home. It took a lot of self talk to convince myself that this wasn’t true. What they actually disliked was the loss of control in a situation. The lack of fair warning. From then on I implemented a countdown to leaving. I could say “Ten minutes” and make that last five or twenty minutes. If I counted down, the kids knew what to expect and the meltdowns disappeared.

Introduce Books Early

Kids get their vocabulary from their parents and their literature. In order to give them a jump start in life, reading to them is essential. Through literature, they learn language, empathy, and facts. My spouse and I read to all three of our children, and although my middle still needs convincing that reading is fantastic, all three speak well and seem to have a great vocabulary arsenal. Books became part of our bedtime ritual, and I am thankful that two out of the three still love reading. While I continue to work on my middle guy, I do see the reading paying off because he has empathy and a great vocabulary. Books do so much for young and old, and this was the advice I’m glad I took.

When you’re a new parent, you get tons of advice. Most of it is not requested; however, the above five pieces of advice were comments I was glad I received. It’s time for me to pass them along to new parents out there.

What about you? What is the best advice you’ve received when you were a new parent?