Raising Five Without Babywise.

I knew a mom who typed up her children's schedules and kept them in a neatly organized binder. She managed every tiny detail of their wake and sleep times. I guess you could call her a fan of Babywise.  She reveled in the compliments from everyone: "My, what lovely, obedient children you have." She worked hard and prided herself on the results. She liked to dole out parenting advice.

That mom was me. I was a first-time mommy determined to do everything right. I had a lot to learn.

I've learned this: whether you follow Attachment Parenting or Babywise, breastfeed or bottle feed, co-sleep or let your child cry herself to sleep, educate your children at home or in public school----be gracious to moms who parent differently than you.

Because someday, God might send you a child who defies every method, shatters all your pretty platitudes and exposes you as a prideful, holier-than-thou, know-it-all.

I know this because it happened to me. I had to eat humble pie before I realized there's no substitute for relying on Christ alone. Programs, babywise or otherwise, didn't make me a better mother to my children. They only inflated my pride.

Today when someone asks me, "how do you do it?" I reply, "only by the grace of God."
 

Afterall, programs & methods do not save us. But grace does. 'Twas grace that saved a mommy like me.

Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts? Please share---graciously. :-)