The Big Parenting Debate

#TheBigParentingDebate

Parenting is one topic on which you can guarantee EVERYONE has an opinion. Parents or not, EVERYONE seems to have a view on the “right” way to raise a child, creating a wealth of conflicting view points on how best to approach every parenting challenge.

I found this impossibly hard as a first time Mum. Everybody wanted to give me tips, tell me their experiences, provide insights into what helped them, or worse, make judgements on the decisions we had made in raising our daughter. Whether it be sleeping advice, the bottle vs breast debate, or when they should go into their own bedroom – there was always a conflict and it drove me insane! Whilst I am sure, in the majority of cases, the advice giver’s intentions were good, the result was a very confused and stressed out Mamma, constantly doubting herself and wondering if the “right” decisions had been made.

I recently became a Mum for the 2nd time, and this time, I am taking every bit of advice I receive with a pinch of salt. Whilst I love to hear / read about what other people have done, or what worked for them, ultimately we – myself and my partner – will decide what is best for our children, and THAT’S OK!!!

Over coming months, with the help of my fellow Mum bloggers, I will be sharing BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY. My aim is to show new parents and parents to be that there is no right or wrong approach – that everyone is different, and that despite having polar opposite approaches to parenting, there is no reason why we can’t stop the judgement and just live and let live!

I will be sharing a number of #TheBigParentingDebate posts exploring the most common conflicting approaches to parenting, and showcasing real mum’s (or Dad’s) experiences – including what worked, and didn’t work for them. These frank and honest insights into parenting will hopefully open our eyes a little and help us all take a step back before we judge those that are different to us! 🙂

Look out for our first post very soon!

Lucy x