Unconventional Mom

We don't live on a daily schedule. The most the schedule we have is I get up every morning, get Kenny's work clothes, Make us both Breakfast, Make Kenny's lunch, Get a shower, Get Rylee up and fed and dressed. After that - Who Knows!? After that the day is open for whatever may come. Work, hanging around the house, running countless errands - or what will soon to be - packing/moving. And, at the end of the day she does best going to be from between 9-12, depending on the rest of the day.

I let her run and play all through the house.

I don't have child locks on my cabinets.

I let her play with old-school trains (the same one I had as a child myself!) that have the paint peeling off.

We let her drink as much as she wants through the day (when I breastfed she got the boob whenever she wanted it).

I let her climb on top of the baseboard heater and attempt to then climb on the kitchen chairs. The worst that'll happen will be a little fall and possibly bumping her chin/biting her tongue. I'd be right there and she'll be okay.

We laugh and and tell her it's funny and she's "okay" when she falls down (Unless, of course, she instantly starts crying). Consequently she really doesn't mind falling down, even when it's a 'hard' fall. She picks herself back up again, sometimes wants a hug, and keeps going.

We let her watch tv, play with the tv, push buttons, change the contrast, the settings, the channels.

I let her play with my iPod Touch.

She plays with my Cell phone. She's very good about it too because we've taught her "gentle" or "careful."

I let her pacifier fall on the floor - anywhere - and almost always give it right back to her.

I don't care that her juice bottle fell on the floor in Arby's - no that single momentary contact with the floor is not going to giver her the swine flu.

We delayed Vaccinations. Let her Jaundice clear up on it's own by taking her out for drives on the sunny days through the wintery week after she was born.

Didn't give her the flu shot and especially not the swine flu shot.

Yes, I let her play with pens. She is good with them, and has learned very quickly that you can draw with them, but only on paper.

I started 'disciplining' her as soon as she started crawling and actually understanding things. She is a very big girl and understands a lot.

I let her climb up on things all the time. I'm there when she falls, she learns not to do it again because it 'hurts' her. I let her play in boxes, play with old pop bottles, and other 'garbage' that won't do her any harm.

We joke around that Rylee never "had a chance" to not like love electronics. We've got almost 4 (Kenny's building the 4th one) computers between us, for work/school/personal purposes. We only have cell phones, no home phone. 4 ipods, 2 Nintendo DS's, a Wii................. so we are just teaching her moderation.

Times change and so do children and the things they grow up with. Our daughter is growing up in the age of technology. So, we focus on teaching her moderation. She absolutely loves being outside, and I also hope to nurture that much much more with our pending move.

I don't care when she feeds a dog and gets dog drool on her hands - then puts them in her mouth. I'll wash them if I can get to her right away - but I am not going to freak out about it in the slightest.

I also don't care if she is fussing and screaming through a grocery store. I will not do *everything* I can to stop her screaming. She will get disciplined for it in the store, and will learn that it is not okay behavior.

I bring her to work with me, and I let her run around. I let her play and climb and get into things - of course she is supervised and of course she never is allowed anything that will harm her. I love that she gets to grow up in similar work that I did. I hope that she will also learn a good work ethic eventually too. All we can do is provide her the right environment and tools for her to really learn these things. That's what we hope to do.

We let her play with other random electronics. USB cables, alarm clocks,  computer mice. Oh gosh, computer mice. She loves those darn things. Especially the laser mice - she loves picking them up and shining that light onto the desk when it's plugged in. She still likes clicking it when we unplug them - but it's not as cool as when that laser is there to play with.

Yes, I give her chocolate and other sweets. We do try and keep it to a minimum - but she does get those. They are good, we enjoy them, why shouldn't she? We know that she could develop a 'sweet tooth' but by keeping them from her we're just creating a much worse monster - rather than teaching her moderation in the long run.

I get looks and stares. I can tell when other women (and friends) talk behind my back about how they "can't believe I let my daughter do ____." But I can handle it. It's how I am.

I don't mind being a dork for my daughter. Dancing around like an idiot, making stupid noises, singing and playing and walking around in a sheet because she thinks it hilarious. - Whatever it is.

It's how I am. I don't buy into the new 'trends' in parenting these days. I don't buy into the crap that says tv makes children ADHD. I don't buy into all the hand sanitizing - kids have to be exposed to germs to be able to be immune to anything in the first place. Kids that are constantly washed and not able to build those immunities are sick more often.

I don't buy into the new 'thing' that says you can't tell your children "No" because it will mentally/emotionally damage them. I was told "no," I was grounded, I was ::gasp:: spanked! I appreciate it! I am who I am today because of how my parents raised me. I have 4 younger siblings and I appreciate being raised with all them too.

My daughter loves me, hugs me, rubs me, kisses me. Begs to be held, played with, given attention. She is a sweetheart and doesn't like it when she knows she's disappointed me and tries to make up for it.

I am an Unconventional Mom. I'm proud of it!