I love the parenting advice that my husband often brings home from the classy, night shift crew.  They talk about a whole array of things, and there's never any shortage of good stories...shortage of common sense, ya, but stories...Nope...they have tons of them.

 

He has a few friends that have toddlers and they frequently find themselves in deep discussion on child rearing.

 

The first one has a son Ellie's exact age.  They were actually born and in the hospital at the same time.  Of course they compare constantly.  Ellie, being a girl, walked and talked before his son, and in general seems more advanced.  However, he very proudly announced when they were not even a year old that his son ate an entire McDonald's happy meal all by himself!  The kid from what I have gathered, eats like a small horse.  And we brag.

 

Next up is the guy that advised Brett to slap her, open palmed, on the bottom of the foot when she acts out.  "Hurts like hell, and never leaves a mark!" he proudly told Brett.  Shortly after hearing that story relayed I tried it out on him.

 

Lastly (and this is my favorite) they lately have been discussing why Ellie is still in a crib.  Now parents that I talk to...scratch that, MOTHERS that I talk to, all say the same thing.  Leave them in a crib as long as you can.  Keep them contained!  If there is no issue with the crib, why oh why would you remove them?  But the first guy's son has been in a toddler bed for a while now.  She shouldn't be still in a crib, they tell Brett.  Brett then explains to the brain trust, that I am concerned about her crawling out the doggie door in the middle of the night, or even worse, unlocking, unbolting and opening the sliding door and setting off the security system....sending the cops to our house at 2 am.  SO!  and this is where it gets good!  The third guy tells Brett to do what he did.  He told him, "You cut the door in half...that's what I did to my kid's door." 

 

 

     ...Oh...My...God....

 

 

Now I just want to visit this guy's house to see the homemade Dutch door system of containment.

 

 

GOTTA LOVE THE NIGHT SHIFT!!