I'm a book and research mom. From the moment I knew I was pregnant I started looking up information on the internet, reading books and oooh-ahhhing at everything we know about teeny tiny zygote. MLDad had to expect this from me. He knows I love reading the extremely small print from contracts to cereal boxes. So many things to learn about and ready for me to read.
So when it came to talking to LilO's pediatrician about our multilingual family he said "That's great, but LilO should only hear one language per person". I politely asked the pediatrician why he thought this was the way to go, but he really had no answer. (Specially since I had read so much otherwise with great success stories!) His answer: "It's just how it's usually done". By who? When? Doesn't matter. Why would I even question my French pediatrician's advice? Because I'm not French I suppose. I could tell he didn't appreaciate the questions, though I don't see any point in going to see a doctor if I can't ask anything - but that's just me.
Then on the next visit the Dr assured me LilO didn't feel any teething pain and that it was nonesense. Alrighty then. Bye bye now. Of course LilO was in pain at times. I know it and I know LilO better than him. And that I didn't even have to read about.
I was disappointed because I really wanted to have this dream pediatrician I'd stick with and have this long lasting trust relationship, but it didn't work out that way.
Our new pediatrician is a very nice man and although I did (briefly) talk to him about our non OPOL (one parent one language) approach he just smiled and said "oh ok". Hm. That was easy :)
I actually love being a book mom. I'd love to have all the money in the world and buy all kinds of books, but I do what I can and use the internet as much as possible as well.
One of my friends once told me that I didn't need all these books - that having a baby is all about instinct and that I'd figure it all out on my own. Well, I know there's a lot of instinct involved and I do that 99% of the time actually. But my instinct doesn't tell me or explain how LilO's brain is developing and what parts of the brain do what they do and why she goes through her different phases. I guess it's just that I read up on many things and LilO being part of our lives now makes it so interesting and fun :)
Of course it's a lot about instict (i agree with the 99%) but it's also nice and interesting to understand what's happening with baby's development, with their brains, to understand why they behave like they do while "growing up".
ReplyDeleteNowadays i don't get to read as much as i want to! i used to read way more before BabyNat was born and during her first month. These days i read a little bit each day and it's all from internet.
I'm definitely the same way! I got so many books with my first pregnancy that I actually read. I also got the baby magazines and all the various e-newsletters. I love having a plethora of information I could turn to for guidance when I wasn't relying just on my instincts.
ReplyDelete@Nay Diaz: same here! I've been holding off reading some books and I wonder if I'll ever get the time. I think I need to make time. Nurtureshock is one I really want to read. And yes, the internet is definitely great help. How did our mothers do it back then without Google?
ReplyDeletelostandforgotten: guidance is the right word! I just felt sometimes my friend looked down on me for trying to "figure everything out" but I just found it so darn interesting. I'm nerdy like that ;)