Never Say Never

Before I became a mother, I was convinced that there were certain things that I would not allow/do with my children. Of course, that is still the case with a number of those items, but after meeting this particular little boy, I have found myself changing my stance on several of them. (I now realize that a lot of parenting depends on each individual child) This photo shows two items which I have had to eat my words on. First is the pacifier. I used to think that they were so tacky. I was convinced that my children would not use them. That was before my little boy was born sucking his fingers and after discussing it with our pediatrician, I came to the conclusion that a pacifier is a much easier habit to break than thumb sucking, and is better for his teeth. (He is down to just using it in the crib, car, and some situations where he needs a moment to adjust - This week is an exception due to a particularly bad bout of teething) Now I find myself faced with teenagers & 20 somethings in the checkout lane who say they will never let their baby use a pacifier. I simply reply "never say never".

The second item in the photo is Austin's new monkey harness. Prior to having Austin, I thought they looked like the parent was treating their child like a pet. That was before I had a little boy who hates to ride in carts and would much rather explore the store or outdoor area on his own two feet. After a particularly humorous (Austin loves making new friends while exploring) and challenging (he also like taking items off the shelves and sprinting off in the opposite direction) trip to Target last night, Walker and I decided it was time to purchase a harness/backpack. That way, Austin gets his sense of freedom, but we maintain a little more control. Of course, we had to get the monkey version since Austin is still fascinated with monkeys. ;-)

This morning, I tried the backpack on Austin to see if it would work, and he loved it. He immediately began making his monkey noises and would not let me take it off. He spent a large portion of the morning playing with his new friend. He even showed the monkey how to do some stunt riding on his "motorcycle". ;-)