INDfamily

VALERIE WOERNER: Don't Eat the Sand

by Valerie Woerner

With only 11 weeks left to go, I'm officially in the phase of needing to learn about this whole child rearing business, and I should probably learn something about birth while I'm at it.

With only 11 weeks left to go, I'm officially in the phase of needing to learn about this whole child rearing business, and I should probably learn something about birth while I'm at it.

Up till this point I've read about pregnancy and even the best products to buy, but haven't really read up on post-pregnancy because truthfully, it feels like forever till I'll be unpregnant again.

But my little iPhone app seems to have sped up with it's counting down the remaining days: it's time. Time to enter that mother world. Seriously, y'all, it is a whole other world.

There are a million things that scare me about being a mom, but I think the number one thing I'm afraid of is all the opinions. Everyone seems to have differing opinions on the matter, however, everyone feels their way is best.

Will you go natural? Will you breastfeed? Use clothe diapers? Make your own food? Cry it out?

I give very few definitive answers because I fear what will happen if someone catches me being wrong. And just to give you a spoiler alert: I will be making some mistakes. I don't even need Reality Steve to tell me that one. And worse, what if their philosophy is the exact opposite of what I'm hoping to do. Awkward conversation sure to ensue. And I can be the queen of awkward. (Ask my husband).

I'm accustom to being a very decisive person. I can make decisions quickly because things usually appear black and white and I do so every day, multiple times a day as a business owner.

But motherhood seems to be different. I know I will need to keep an open mind about things. I've already learned that "Never Say Never" is more than just a Justin Beiber song, but a useful mom mantra.

Between my love of reading and my husband's love of researching, there will be no shortage of advice we seek out. (Which ironically we've already been told several times not to read too much or we'll get overwhelmed. Just their opinion, of course.)

Over the next few weeks, we'll be reading up on different philosophies and seeing which ones actually hold water for our little family. Our number one goal is to raise Vivi in a way that honors God. And from my Bible-reading, God didn't lay out specifics on things like whether teaching a baby to swim at 9 months is torture or beneficial. We'll just have to sift all the advice through what we feel God calls us to do by spending lots of time simply listening to His voice and praying for His guidance.

I'm excited to share my own journey. It's a journey, not Val's Philosophy on Parenting.

We are at the beach right now enjoying our pre-kid beach fun. You know, naps on the beach, reading for hours and two-pieces. Next year, our little Vivi will be 9 months when we take this trip. I know it won't be much of a "vacation" but I'm excited to see the beach through her eyes as she discovers things for the first time.

Sharing my posts with those of you who have already gone through this may be similar to me experiencing the beach with Vivi. I may "eat some sand" in the process of parenting and find out "Hey, I don't think I'm supposed to eat sand" but I'm guessing it will be pretty entertaining to watch me discover it.

Read more about Valerie Woerner and the INDfamily bloggers here.