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Parenting at One

A Constant Learning Experience

By James HowellPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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So I wrote one of these at eight months old. A few things have changed since then. Little man is now semi mobile, he is crawling and cruising. He has interests in PBS shows such as Curious George, Super Why, and sometimes Sesame Street. He wants to be with me, and doing what I’m doing at all times. I really don’t mind it as long as he is safe and I’m not doing anything that could potentially harm him. He has also decided he no longer has a bedtime, or a set amount of sleep he needs.

As a parent, you often wonder if you are doing enough of the right things to help them develop and educate them. It is such a big relief to see him enjoying books and watching educational shows. The fact of how much he interacts with them overjoys me. With him being a preemie, I often worry about milestone delays. So far, he has met everyone. Yet, I still worry. Why is he not walking yet? Why is he not saying more than mama and dada yet? I know I’m probably being a little over anxious and irrational, however it’s still a worry. I want him to enjoy his life as a child, there’s plenty of time for him to be miserable as an adult. Therefore, I try not to push him too hard. I want him to enjoy life and new experiences as a kid.

I want him to enjoy the holidays without spoiling him. I especially want him to enjoy Halloween. I try not to be to overzealous about it. We took him to Spirit Halloween yesterday. I hoped to get him used to the sights and noise of Halloween. Overall, he did really well. We let him touch skeletons and masks, and the like. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part. There was only one animatronic that he did not like, and he did not like us putting on masks. He was willing to let us know what he didn’t like. We got the biggest lower lip sticking out that you have ever seen. When he did, I immediately took him away from what was scaring him, and held him tight and comforted him.

I worried about pushing him to hard, and if it would have the opposite effect, and make him hate Halloween. Would I cause him nightmares? He got a little more upset at Target with the animatronics. I believe it was because it was a small aisle with lots of noise and lights that he didn’t understand. We had to leave that aisle rather quickly. Thankfully, he went to sleep around eleven pm, and slept fine through the night. I still couldn’t help but to worry.

I’m still learning when it comes to discipline. At his age, spankings don’t work. If he bites and you bite him back, he just laughs at you. We don’t allow yelling in the house, except for him babbling and getting excited. I really don’t like loud noises anyways, which I think comes from my father being loud when he was angry with or disciplining us. I use a sharp tone, but with reasonable volume. He’s really not a bad kid overall, he is more curious, like Curious George. Still we have to teach children right from wrong, and how to stay safe and not hurt themselves.

When we are in a store, if we are buying him a toy, we normally let him pick it out. It’s for him, so why not? My father was bad to encourage me to pick out things he liked, but I wasn’t allowed to touch it. Not much fun for me. I have to remember that when we are in a store, hence why we let him pick out toys.

Right now I’m just learning to let him be him, and enjoy learning and life.

children
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About the Creator

James Howell

Father, activist, man in black... He/Him

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