Other peoples opinions!

After going to my young mum's group today i realised just how influential other peoples ideas and 'advice' (asked for or not) can be. I dont know about anyone else, and while it kind of contradicts the point of this article, there is something about other people's opinions that never

For example i picked up one of the other mums and her 4 yr old and dropped them home today. This girl has one of the most beautiful, confident children i've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Well, as of today we have a new person who watches the kids and well miss independent spent her time coming back and forth between the room her mum was in and the room where the kids were being looked after. Yes she could get outside however if her mum thought she would leave the building she would have enforced a rule that she doesn't go anywhere unsupervised. Now to many people that may read this may disagree here but that just brings about the point im making. The woman who normally runs the group saw her and felt it necessary to chastise the child and give her a lecture when she went in to say good bye. Now ofcourse i agree to a point but if you ever met this child, you'd realise that she is smart and respects her mother and while she pushes her boundaries (like alot of 4 yr olds) she is very capable of moving from room to room without causing a disruption, breaking anything or harming herself. I don't think the constant flow of comments and remarks bother my friend, they as far as i can see they are just an annoyance but if i were her id be torn between knowing my child is capable and feeling like an irresponsible parent.

So after many months, ive drawn a conclusion and while i have heard this before, i really do finally believe it. I'm the parent, im the one who's responsible and im the one who knows best. I spend the most time with him and i know what he can do and what he cant do and i always sought out info when im unsure. DON'T GET ME WRONG i appreciate every piece of advice that people want to give and keep it all in mind, i believe in my decisions now and spend less time consitering what everyone else has told me to do! I love my son and would do anything to keep him safe and healthy but the only way im going to know exactly what that means for him is by process of elimination. This doesnt mean assuming everything i think is right, he still gets regular health checks and i still panic everytime he coughs. I tend to worry because he's not sleeping through lately yet last night he slept right through so im worried about that. In these cases other people's opinions can be reassuring even enlightening (as long it doesnt include one of those horror stories you always see on day time t.v, in cases like that it makes me feel worse then off to get him checked, even if its just by grandma).

Once again as my advice seems to forming a pattern, this is a long way round to a short point and that point is DONT TAKE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY TOO SERIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY CRITICISM. YOU KNOW BEST AS THE PARENT/GUARDIAN OF YOUR CHILD. Even when it comes to how your child is dressed for the weather or how late they stay up, whatever the other person's OPINION may be, you are the one who ultimately deals with the concequences (whether its a case of the sniffles after letting your child play in the rain, or a cranky child because they are over tired!) therefore your choices should be respected!

Point is:- LISTEN, LEARN, DO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT ANYWAY!