Firstly, thanks to Renee, who asked in response to my last post what I would be doing to prepare for parenthood.
I have been preparing for parenthood by doing a few different things. Mostly, I have been reading books about parenthood, but I think that I need to work out exactly what it is that I want to learn. Do I want to learn a specific way of parenting (attachment parenting, the 'Gina Ford' routine method), or do I want to learn about how babies develop and what their needs are at a given age and stage and work how I parent around that? Or do I want to focus on the Godly way of bringing them up and ensuring that they are aware of God right from the start? I don't think that any of these ways are mutually exclusive, and I will most likely learn about how babies develop and then develop my own parenting style as biblically based as possible.
There is an excellent book that I read when I was last pregnant called Praying for your Unborn Child and I think that is a good place to start.
The other thing I have been doing to prepare for parenthood is to hang out with friends who are pregnant and have babies. I have been especially blessed to have a Godson, who I have spent time with since he was 2 days old. I have learnt to play, to change nappies, to sing to babies, to burp them, to get them to sleep, to feed them because my friend has been gracious enough to let me 'have a go'. I have watched how other families parent, and how their kids turn out, and lets just say I have very definate opinions of whose style I want to copy and those that I don't!
Parenting is a huge adventure, and while I think you can prepare in advance, there is nothing like bringing that newborn home and thinking 'this is it, don't get scared now'!
I have been preparing for parenthood by doing a few different things. Mostly, I have been reading books about parenthood, but I think that I need to work out exactly what it is that I want to learn. Do I want to learn a specific way of parenting (attachment parenting, the 'Gina Ford' routine method), or do I want to learn about how babies develop and what their needs are at a given age and stage and work how I parent around that? Or do I want to focus on the Godly way of bringing them up and ensuring that they are aware of God right from the start? I don't think that any of these ways are mutually exclusive, and I will most likely learn about how babies develop and then develop my own parenting style as biblically based as possible.
There is an excellent book that I read when I was last pregnant called Praying for your Unborn Child and I think that is a good place to start.
The other thing I have been doing to prepare for parenthood is to hang out with friends who are pregnant and have babies. I have been especially blessed to have a Godson, who I have spent time with since he was 2 days old. I have learnt to play, to change nappies, to sing to babies, to burp them, to get them to sleep, to feed them because my friend has been gracious enough to let me 'have a go'. I have watched how other families parent, and how their kids turn out, and lets just say I have very definate opinions of whose style I want to copy and those that I don't!
Parenting is a huge adventure, and while I think you can prepare in advance, there is nothing like bringing that newborn home and thinking 'this is it, don't get scared now'!
Comments
Sorry I took so long to read your response to my nosey question. :) I think you've got some great ideas and was glad to read them.