WE HAVE CAVED!! Rules are meant to be Broken!

I think all parents start out with ideas and theories on how to best raise their child. We won't make the same "mistakes" we've seen others make. We try our best to make rules that will enhance our children's lives, making them nicer, smarter, easier to live with . . .

We started out with two rules that everyone has always teased us about.

Rule #1: No sugar until Carson is two. To clarify, no ice cream, no candy, no cake, nothing that would cause him to have a sugar addiction like his father ;-) We have been pretty darn good about it much to the dismay of Carson's many grandparents.

Rule #2: No TV until Carson is two. It's okay if we're watching the news and he looks occasionally. And once in a great he has peeked at a car show with Daddy. But it's a rarity.

Well this past week has been especially trying as Carson is going through a "clingy" phase which means if I'm more than 1 inch away from him, he cries like he's being tortured. We were at the end of our ropes. We hadn't eaten dinner in peace for over a week. So Friday we broke both of our rules in shear desperation.

Friday midday- Carson attended a 3rd birthday party for a friend at Pump It Up Jr. He thoroughly enjoyed ICE CREAM CAKE! Double whammy!!!

Friday evening- We carried his high chair down to the home theater room and we all ate dinner in front of the 100 inch screen watching "Baby Einstein's Santa"!!!!!! It was the first meal in peace and it was WONDERFUL!

It was so wonderful in fact, that we now let him watch that DVD once a day (just 30 minutes) for a little quiet time. So wonderful in fact, that I just ordered two more DVD's for Christmas presents. Baby Signing: Zoo Animals and Baby Signing: Friends, Family, & Fun. At least I can say they are educational ;-) That justifies it, right?

So rules are meant to be broken. Parenting is about flexibility. It's not only doing what's best for your child but what's best to maintain your own sanity, thereby making you a better parent. Insanity is not condusive to good parenting.

SIDENOTE: Carson disovered today that nature created an amazing phenomenon. His pointer finger is EXACTLY the same size as the holes in his nose. They fit together PERFECTLY! Isn't that just wonderful (heavy on the sarcasm here).