Never Say Never!

So I have a lot of friends who are pregnant right now, many of whom will be first time mommies! My best advice for them is to "Never say Never!" I can't stress this enough. There are so many things I said I would never do, that I did do, that I can't list them all. But here is a partial list...


I will never...

Let my children watch TV before the age of 2

Let my children drink juice before the age of 2

Let my children play video games before the age of 5

Drive a minivan

Live in Fishers (or any north suburb for that matter)

Bribe my children to cooperate

Bribe my children to sit on the potty

Okay, bribe my children, period

Let my children share our bed

Lock my children in their room to get them to go to sleep

Raise my voice at my children

(okay, I knew this one was unrealistic from the start;))

Let my children watch TV before bed

Let the TV babysit my children

Count fruit snacks and french fries as fruits and vegetables

Reuse a diaper becuase I had forgotten one

Lie about their age to get a free meal

Lie to them about what is actually on their plates to get them to try new food

Let my children pee in our front yard and our back yard

Encourage my children to pee in a parking garage

Send my child to daycare with a low grade fever and act surprised when I get a call later that he is sick (don't worry Liz this was with my old babysitter!;))

Take my children out in public with dirty faces or crusty noses

I think you get the idea. Now none of you have to feel guilty about the things you said you would/will never do.

My other two pieces of advice for new mothers are to 1) lower your standards as to what you are able to accomplish in a day (you can always increase it later) and 2) do whatever is best for the mommy! Happy mommy=Happy family!

Good Luck!