11 Weeks 4 days old

I have heard the term “Attachment Parenting” before and have heard it used in both the positive and negative sense.  Other terms like codependence, imprisonment, bonded, emotionally engaged also come to mind.  Dr. Sears coined the phrase. (or so Wikipedia tells me)  And there are a lot of opinions for and against.  (See here)

   After reading the Wikipedia entry I’ve decided this is pretty much already what we are doing.  Wearing the baby.  Being attentive to her needs.  Cosleeping.  Etc.  But I’m not sure how much of this I learned from books or how much I’ve just agreed to as I go along for the ride.  But it seems like a lot of this is common sense.  The baby is crying because she is uncomfortable.  She is uncomfortable because she needs something.  Let’s figure out what it is. 

   At this point, that seems ok because we are all in survival mode.  But eventually, (when she learns to walk, talk and crush dreams) she’ll be manipulating us at some level to get not only what she needs, but also what she wants.  And as we all know,You Don’t Always Get What You Want.

   A lot of arguments against this type of childrearing says that it is too restrictive.  It puts women back in the kitchen barefoot.  It sets back women’s rights.  I guess my responses to this would be “Where are the husbands/partners?”  or “If you CHOSE to have a child, I guess you should accept the responsibility… even if it is more demanding than you thought.”  That’s life, right?  Time to nut up and not be an ass. (I can’t believe I just used that phrase)

Here’s 10 Mb of cuteness.