Do each of our kids get a different side of you? This mum calls it multi-personality parenting, and it’s the most natural thing in the world…
Each of my kids has a different mum. Sort of. No, we didn’t adopt. No, we didn’t use surrogates. I definitely grew and birthed all three of them. Believe me, I remember. But I have a mummy confession:
I parent each of my kids differently. I suppose you could call it multiple personality parenting. But I like to call it doing what’s best for my kids. Each one of them. Individually.
Before having kids, I knew exactly the type of parent I wanted to be. My hubby and I talked through everything. I was going to breastfeed. We weren’t going to use dummies. We weren’t going to introduce TV for the first two years. We’d make all of our own baby food. We wouldn’t eat takeaway. We weren’t going to co-sleep. We weren’t going to use smacking as a form of discipline. In other words, we had it all worked out. We were so pleased with the kick-ass parents we were going to be.
And then we actually had a kid.
And you know what? Aside from a few circumstances beyond our control (our first was born 11 weeks early and couldn't breastfeed, for example), we were pretty much able to be those kick-ass parents we dreamed of being. Belle was such an easy baby. She slept well everywhere: in her crib, the swing, the pack 'n play. She ate well. She naturally fell into a sleeping and feeding schedule very early on. She travelled well. She hardly ever fussed. Looking back, it's no wonder we were able to be those ideal parents we had set out to be. We didn't have any resistance, and Belle's personality meshed so well with how we wanted to parent.