Parenting: An Inexact Science

I don’t have kids but I’m amazed by those that do. Especially those that work inside and outside of the home, and cook, attend higher ed programs, and even manage to exercise. But that’s not the focus of this post.

I remember when my niece was born about four years ago. I sent all my aunts, uncles, and cousins an email with her name, the vitals and I reiterated that in fact her surname was hyphenated and that was no typo. I told my sister if she hyphenated I would too if I’m lucky enough to be a mom one day.

To this day I’m surprised at how much moms judge each other. There is no handbook for parenting though society might claim there are many. There are far too many genetic and environmental variables in life to pinpoint random parenting choices as a cause of some undesirable characteristic in one’s child. Yes, I sometimes judge people because they complain about the same parenting issues over and over again,  but they probably bitch about me complaining about the plight of the single life. And so we agree to listen to each other.

I am most surprised, though, at how crazy people seem to think family bed and long-term breastfeeding are. And so I was happy to see this video about a new book from actor Mayim Bialik, who also has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. We all make choices and we all have to own those decisions and live with them, but no one gets the right to tell another person that breastfeeding a 2-year-old or sharing their bed with their own baby is wrong.

 

Click here for more info on Mayim’s new book, Beyond the Sling