Thursday, February 23, 2012
Oh bebe...
Phew. It doesn't just feel as if I have been running all week, I have been running all week.
I can now say with complete certainty that I am thoroughly sick of party planning, and while I am looking forward to my daughter's first birthday party on Saturday, I will also be kind of glad when I see the back of all the guests and get to sit down in the evening and know that it is all behind me.
Lilia had a lovely first birthday yesterday, I don't know who was more excited, me or her. She loved her prezzies and even got to have a little bit of cake.
Meanwhile, I have been indulging in a little mommy-literature (it should be a whole separate genre, like chic-lit) and reading Pamela Druckerman's French Children Don't Throw Food (although I must admit I much prefer the other title, Bringing up bebe).
I first heard about the book from this post on Design Mom and thought the topic rather intriguing. And if I must be completely honest, the fact that Lilia is now on the cusp of looming toddlerdom also attracted me to the book - I am desperately casting about for discipline theories so that I know what to do when the inevitable first tantrum strikes.
The book is very witty and written in a journalistic style, so even easy to follow for mushy-brained mommies. However, I must say that having grown up in quite a conservative country as far as manners are concerned, I found much of the values that Druckerman espouses to be common sense, good old fashioned parenting and not unique to the French. For example, No means No and the importance of saying Hello, Goodbye, Please, Thank you and Thank You For Having Me where all drilled into us from a very, very young age.
The parts where she touched on food were enjoyable, and I found her suggestion to feed babies in courses to be extremely good advice. I've tried feeding veges to Lilia at the beginning of the meal while I'm busy preparing the other courses to be a brilliant tactic - it takes the edge of her hunger and gets the veges in simultaneously. But even I, who is a little bit of a make-your-own-baby-food fanatic and Annabel Karmel devotee, found the anecdote about the creche menus and broccoli mousse to be hilarious.
The ideas of being a confident parent and constantly talking to your children and explaining to them what is permitted and what isn't, and why, are all things I'm going to try and take with me into the next year of mommyhood - as Druckman says, strictness must come with flexibility, including giving kids autonomy and choices, and that it is important to be both affectionate and have authority without raising your voice.
Read the book, you'll enjoy it.
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