Read The Baby Books

    It's official, you're going to be a mother. Whether you're pregnant, adopting, using a surrogate, you're about to enter new and unexplored terroriy. Naturally you wanna be prepared for what lies ahead so you pick up a few baby books. You decide to ask a friend/sister/mom group what books they read when they were waiting for their baby. Some provide a few books they enjoyed, and then there's that one. You know the one. She proudly says "oh I never read any of those books, you'd be better off to just take it as it comes".
     Now I will admit the moms that turn their noses up at reading pregnancy or parenting books often have some valid points, but I am astounded by the number of blogs where moms actually WARN other moms about reading baby books.
    I'm here to tell you, read the baby books. I'm not saying you have to, but there is no harm in being more informed. Knowledge is power, my friends.
     Have you ever noticed that the same moms who warn about baby books also dole out their own parenting advice freely (and maybe unasked for)? Coinidence? I think not. Newsflash: no one is the perfect parent. No one is born knowing how to be a mother.
     I had a lot of experience with children before I was a mother. I had taught Sunday School, I taught children dance, I have 7 nieces and nephews that I used to babysit all the time. I was even called "the grandchild wrangler". Even with all of that experience with and around children when I had my son it was all new to me. For one thing a lot of the things I went through with my son or my first son for that matter weren't things anyone that was my contemporary was going through. So I turned to other resources. Yes baby books, but also books about grief and mommy blogs, really anything that I could read and see myself or my babies in.
     You will never hear a mother say "I wish I didn't know this when I was expecting". I'll say the most crucial time to read any book or blog or online resource involving your child is during pregnancy. There are so many signs and symptoms that unless you've read about it you wouldn't know that something is wrong.
      I'm not here to tell you that reading baby books will make you the right kind of mother for your child. I'm just trying to tell you, don't fear the baby books. Don't be afraid of knowledge. Besides it's much easier to just ignore advice in a book than to tell your relative you don't want to use their advice.
      How do you feel about the great baby book debate?