Advice Reality Check

When I was pregnant with my first child I read 7 books on pregnancy and 5 books on early parenting.   During the first year of his life I subscribed to two different parenting magazines and continued devouring books on the subject… Wear your baby. Don’t wear your baby. Start solids at 3 months. Don’t you dare start solids at 3 months. Let him cry it out. Don’t EVER let a baby cry. As my child grew so did the amount of available advice… Potty train by age 2. Don’t potty train until he is ready. Potty train in one day. Big potties, little potties, porta-potties….ARGHHHHHH! Teach your child to read. Don’t push academics. Then you reach school age and the advice explodes and seems extremely urgent… Hold back your Kindergartner. Your Kindergartner will be bored by Kindergarten academics. Kids need more academics. Kids need more play. Your kids aren’t in sports? Sports at this age? Meanwhile I was bombarded with advice from other areas of life… Paint your kitchen cabinets. Remove wallpaper yourself. Cook this way. No this way. Use this product. Use that product. This craft is easy and will keep your children occupied. These homemade Christmas Cards are an absolute must for any self-respecting mother of three. Drinking this juice will make you younger. Making this homemade face mask will change your life. TV personalities, Magazine Editors, Internet Experts, Book Writers, Movie Makers all seem to know exactly how I SHOULD be doing it.   But don’t most of them have a staff of people helping? Help! Help! Heeeeeeeeeeelp! Ever feel in need of an advice reality check? What piece of advice have you questioned? Has there ever been a time you wanted to follow through and see if something actually worked? Here is my unsolicited advice:   Take a deep breath and trust what YOU say.