chance

After college, my first job was a social worker at a foster care agency.  My job was to help teenagers transition out of foster care into independent living.  I worked closely with the kids in foster care and the foster families.  One of the foster families that I worked with have a son, named Chance.  This mom was very upfront that it took her and her husband 13 years to conceive her son, due to unexplained infertility.  During the time working at this agency, I married my husband.  The foster mom's response was that I should immediately start trying to conceive, because she said that it may take a while. At the time, I thought she was jumping the gun.....maybe she is wiser than her years!

Back to Chance, this little boy was a real handful.  His mom would always apologize and explain that he is spoiled because they tried so hard to get him.  This leads me to my next topic of :  Is parenting of a child after infertility different than of parents with no difficulties in conception? 

The reason I thought to write this is because I always feel the need to defend my parenting.  My son is almost 3 and still sleeps with my husband and I.  He has very bad separation anxiety, as do my husband and I of him.  All of us hate to be away from each other!

I nursed him until around 14 months, but quit due to the pediatrician recommending it (she is not big on breastfeeding and did not breastfeed her own kids). So my husband I have agreed, if/when we can have another kid, I will breastfeed until I want to quit , which will probably well into the toddler years.  We have not cut his hair, which really seems to bother everyone.   Also, we are not picky with his food, if he wants to eat yogurt for dinner, we let him.  I just feel that these years are sacred.  But don't think that he doesn't get disciplined, because he does.  My life motto has always been " Don't sweat the small stuff."