Parenting at its best

I don't know about you guys, but when I didn't have kids, I was a major "judger" of other people's parenting. I'd be talking to someone whose kid wasn't sleeping through the night at 6 months and tell myself that my kids will NOT be getting up in the night when they're that old! I'd see kids with pacifiers at age 2 and shake my head. Now, almost 3 years into my career as a mom, I have hung up the judging. I seriously do not judge anyone on anything they do. You just never know when something is going to happen to you or when your situation is going to change and you'll find yourself doing the very thing you said you'd never do. Like when my friend Kindel told me she was pregnant with #2 when her first daughter was only 4 months old. I remember clearly telling Chris...doesn't she know how that happens?? Well, guess what? Just a few months later, it was me! Our neighbors in Cedar Falls used to take their video monitors outside with them and hang out with friends while their kids were sleeping inside. I would never do such a thing is what I said then. Now, we do the exact same thing! My friend Tracy received the brunt of my judgment. She's about 2 years ahead of me in her parenting career and so every time Tate would get to a new stage, I'd think to myself, I would never do that. Well....I did it. Nearly every single thing.

Max didn't have juice until he was 18 months old. I didn't think he needed it and nutritionally it wasn't really beneficial. Guess how old Mya was when she got her first sip of juice? 8 or 9 months. I didn't even purchase a juice box until Max was at least 2 years old. Mya was carrying her first juice box at 11 months. Max just learned in the last few months what gum was. Guess who else has had her fair share of gum? Yep...you guessed it. Mya.

What sparked this post is what happened this afternoon here at the Hoden household. There's a long list of things that happened, but one of them was....Chloe ATE a poopy diaper. Ate the poop right out of it and then ripped the diaper to shreds. Let's just say it was not a good night for Chris to call at 4:45 and tell me something came up and he had no idea when he'd be home. So here's a picture of how my kids ate dinner tonight. The Hungry Jack just add water pancakes with no fruit and no vegetables. If you would have told me 3 years ago that at some point in the next few years my kids would sit in front of the TV eating a dinner with no nutritional value, I'd have told them they were smoking crack. Here we are.



In the end, tonight's dinner is going to have no lasting effect on their lives. 95% of the meals they eat (while I'm cooking at least) will have some nutritional value and will not be in front of the TV. However, when the going gets tough, I'll do just about anything to keep my sanity and get a few minutes break....including Curious George at dinner and letting my 18 month old daughter chew some gum. Let's just hope the whole "it will stay in your stomach for 7 years" thing is a myth:)