And what are you *not* concerning yourselves with?

[Judegirl]

For me, this is a shorter list, but here goes:

Table manners - whether she's throwing food, eating off of a plate, playing with her food. I just can't bring myself to care about this at all....

The sun - when she was younger, I was paranoid about this. Now I just slap on sunblock and a hat...and sometimes we even go out in the *middle* of the afternoon! *GASP*

Dirt - I've never worried about this, thankfully. I have a friend who drives herself nuts over it. I'll admit that I wipe down high chairs and shopping carts with alcohol, but that's only because she's an unvaxed baby in NYC. Other than high-traffic areas, I'm not concerned. Half of the time I don't even wash her hands before - or after - she eats.

Teeth-brushing - Whoops. I'll take a cloth to her teeth about every other night, but I haven't been great about this. We're lightyears away from actually teaching her to brush, too...I need to find an actual toothbrush. The one she has is a mess. Any suggestions?

ETA: I forgot about bottle/cup thing...it crosses my mind, but I just don't see why I should care when she gives up the bottle...?

And you...what kinds of things do other mommies worry about that you don't?

Jude

[Judegirl]

I didn't want to edit again...but my post was misleading re. table manners...when the food is thrown AT me, that does indeed bug me! *grin*

[lizamann]

Food in general. No veggies or fruit here, but she eats plenty of cookies and other refined treats. Why is she still in the 3rd percentile???? Not that I worry about her weight!

Sleeping - needing help to, that is.

Using me as a pacifier (still nursing). I know she'll get over it when she's ready.

Sharing. Too young to understand this, so we don't make a big deal about it.

Please and thank you's - I just model them and know that she will pick it up without forcing.

Involved craft projects (see other post!)

Hmmm, there has to be others, but since I don't concern myself with it I cant' come up with it!

[crl]

Dirt--I too refuse to worry about dirt. I really do try to remember to wash his hands before he eats. And I wipe them off after he eats. Otherwise, well. . . . The kid still occasionally puts mulch and sand in his mouth so I just can't get too worked up about it.

Falling--I let him climb on all sorts of things. I figure as long as we're just risking bruises and scrapes he can do whatever he wants (assuming it won't damage someone else's property of course). If it could mean a trip to the ER, I stop him or hold on to him while he climbs it.

Sugar--Okay, so no sugary treats after 5pm and they can't be the only food for the rest of the day either. But, the kid has had chocolate, and cookies and cake and pudding. Horrors, I know.

[aa2mama]

I'm definitely finding this list harder to come up with since they're things that aren't on my mind. But I can think of:

Food in general - He's remained steadily at the 60th %tile for quite some time, so it's fairly easy to trust him to regulate his food intake. We get lots of comments on what a big boy and joking questions about what I feed him, though. Also, our families are horrified that we've given him french fries and that he loves them. Whatever...it's only on rare occasions.

Sleep - We're not really having any issues right now (knock on wood).

Enriching activities/classes - We took a music class this last semester, and he just wasn't that into it. He was much more intent on exploring the room. We can do that anywhere; we don't need to pay for a class.

[dotgirl]

I'm assuming you mean what things are concerning, but not currently being looked at, or something like that?

For Riley, we're not concerned about:

His pacifier - He still uses at night, but that's the only time. (Well, sometimes he'll go get it out of his crib, but then we say, "That's for night night!" and he'll go put it back.) I'm just not worried about fighting that battle just yet.

Getting him totally off the bottle - he has one 6oz bottle of whole milk in the morning. The rest of the time he drinks milk or water out of a cup with straw or a sippy cup. We've considered going to a cup for morning, but he's been resisting. We're putting it on hold until we get his temper tantrums straightened out. (Although at the rate we're going, we'll be sending a bottle to college with him!)

Getting him to feed himself - he's occasionally in the mood, and we'll let him try. But if he's not in the mood, it just ends up going poorly, so we're trying not to rush it. I don't really know at what age it's expected that they can operate a spoon, but Riley is not there yet. He does ok with a fork, if the items are good sized. But with a spoon, he just shoves it into the food and flings it widly about.

[alkagift]

Food--He eats fairly well, but there are days when he's looking at a plate of food and looks at me and says, "snack?" I know he just wants a cereal bar. I say no, and that's it. That doesn't mean I won't give him one at snack time, though.

Dirt--I've given up using the cart cover, for the most part.


Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, who is TWO!

[jbowman]

This is easy for me b/c I'm quite the *slacker* mom, LOL:

eating/weight--this is huge for us! We worried about it for a long time, and since her 12-month check-up, Ellie's weight has been very stable. She doesn't like vegetables, but I don't care b/c she loves fruit. She also doesn't like meat too much (I don't eat much of it--and never eat beef/pork, so this is fine with me!). Also doesn't drink milk--I think I responded to your thread about this in the Feeding Forum--that doesn't faze me either!

sugar--I don't worry about whether Ellie gets too much sugar. We feed her nutritious, balanced meals, so it doesn't bother me.

language--Ellie has a large vocabulary and has begun to speak in short sentences. She also understands what we say to her and follows directions. I recognize that we are lucky in that we don't have to worry about this.

dirt--I am the same way as you, Jude--dirt happens, KWIM?

teeth-brushing--I know we should be more vigilant, but I'm lucky if I remember to brush my own teeth!

[Judegirl]

"teeth-brushing--I know we should be more vigilant, but I'm lucky if I remember to brush my own teeth!"

LOL...most of the time I *remember* - I'm just too tired!

[californiagirl]

Dirt, definitely. We don't let her eat straight dirt, but otherwise, well, if a dry cracker falls onto a dry floor, what exactly is going to be wrong with it?

I worried about speech for a while, even though I knew it was sily, because she was a teeny-tiny bit behind and didn't say Mama until last week. Of course, last week, at 15 months 2 weeks, she had a 20+ word vocabulary and she basically never shuts up (although since her conversation consists mostly of "bird", "woof", "that?", "mine",
"more", and "no" it gets a bit repetitive). So I have sworn off worrying about speech and am using this as a reminder not to worry about other stuff.

I am not worrying about the fact that every other baby I know including the 9-month old, the baby that didn't crawl yet at a year, and the baby with no words at 21 months, can undo a zipper and she can't. She can't do zippers or slides (like the eraser on her magnadoodle).

I am not worrying about food. Yes, I have been known to feed her jellybeans, and yes, she's already a serious chocolate cake maniac. When she stops whining for more carrot salad, I'll panic, OK? Even though there are only two vegetables she eats reliably. There are two!

[hjdong]

Dirt - As in, he sits in the middle of our building site and pours dirt on his head and I just don't care - he's entertained. Although I have to admit, I hate when he has smears of dirt on his face. That's just gross.

Sun for him - I do feel a bit guilty putting sunscreen on me and not on him but I obsessed last year, and he got so dark. I've mostly ignored it this year (except for beach trips) and he's so dark. I on the other hand burn.

Not doing things "right" - He wants to do everything himself, and I've gotten used to underwear showing, shoes being on the wrong feet, juice in cereal etc.

Not riding a tricycle - DS maybe the oldest kid ever to not really ride a tricycle (he pedals for a couple of feet) but I don't really care.

That's all I can think of.

[hobey]

Another vote for dirt here. I mean, he's a kid. Dirt happens.

Food/Meals - He rarely eats veggies although now he'll actually eat them if I offer small bits to him on chopsticks. *shrug* He loves fruit so he gets his vitamins that way. He's been on a meat strike lately and will snick-snack all day but prefers yogurt, cheese, and fruit to cookies so I don't sweat it.

Sun - Luckily DS inherited my SE Asian skin instead of my DH's easily burned European skin.

Getting rid of his bedtime bottle - This is usually the only milk he drinks these days but he gets plenty of Ca from other sources. He uses straw cups and open cups the rest of the time and will only drink water. He thinks I'm trying to poison him everytime I've offered juice.

ETA: Talking - he knows and can use about 10 words but prefers to sign and he knows about 30 signs. I figure the words will come and he can communicate fine with signs.

Raquel
Nathan's Mom 12/19/03

[Puddy73]

Dirt/Germs - Now that DD long ago stopped putting random stuff in her mouth, I don't sweep and vaccuum every day. I also stopped using the cart cover and I (gasp) let her play on fast food playgrounds. I think that as long as your kid is healthy, exposure to some dirt and germs is good for their immune system.

Sleep - Knock on wood, she sleeps pretty well now, although not quite as much as I would like!

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle 9/03 & a little pumpkin due 10/05

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[murpheyblue]

I probably belong in the bad mommy hall of fame because my list is pretty long:

Table manners - DD eats most of her meals standing on a chair or onteh bench in our kitchen. She doesn't like to sit and I don't like to fight with her about it. She'll eat if she's standing, so standing it is.

Food intake issues - I feed her when she's hungry. She tends to snack a lot and eschews big formal meals but whatever. As long as she's puttting decent food down, I don't care.

The sun - DD wears sunscreen if she's going to the park or playing outside but otherwise likely not. She refuses to wear hats.

Dirt - We have two dogs that are in and out all day. I simply cannot worry about dirt issues.

Pacifiers - She still uses them. Don't care.

Sleep - She's figuring it out. She was rocked to sleep until 18 months and still occasionally co-sleeps. She'll get there when she's ready.

[mudder17]

I probably don't cover her with sunscreen enough. If we're going to be out in direct sunlight for more than 15 minutes, I'll usually put some sunscreen on her, but if I'm taking a quick walk around the block, I'll put the hood up on the stroller (doesn't cover her completely), put a hat on her and take the walk. My view is that the sunlight will give her sufficient vitamin D. :)

I used to think that Kaya should always eat at the "table" or at least in her high chair. But now DH and I follow her around giving her spoonfuls of food. Eh, I figure she'll figure it out eventually. :)

Dirt--okay, Kaya's been playing with the flower pots (empty, full of dirt, and planted in) on the porch. She likes to take an empty pot, go over to a full pot, take out some dirt, transfer it or sprinkle it around the ground. Certain plant parts also make it into her mouth (my plants are of the nonpoisonous variety, but not exactly tasty). She'll put it in her mouth, test bite it, then spit it out. Strange girl. Uh, washing her hands? Well, if I know she's been playing in dirt, I'll usually wipe her hands with a wet cloth before letting her eat.

Teeth-brushing. Umm...I am so bad about this! She has a toothbrush and I'll let her play with it, but I certainly don't brush her teeth every day, or even get her to do it.

I didn't worry about the fact that she wasn't walking when she wasn't. She wasn't walking at 14 months and some people made comments, but I just said she'll walk when she's ready. And at 14.5 weeks, she stood up one day and started walking. A few days later, she was walking backwards. She's almost running these days. So mommy and daddy were right not to worry. :)

Fevers? She gets these occasionally, but unless it's clearly affecting her, I don't worry about it and don't even give her Tylenol for it. My pede is totally with me as well; the less unneccessary medication is administered, the better. :)



Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[wendmatt]

HOORAY! I don't feel so guilty for letting dd have sweets sometimes now!
DD eats OK, not great but I've stopped worrying so much about it. She eats mostly at the table but I do follow her around sometimes, glad I'm not the only one.

Sleep. It still bugs me that she won't sleep from 7.30 till 7.30 but I'm much less stressed about it than I used to be.

TV at 6am. I used to feel terribly guilty for letting her watch a whole hour of Sesame Street, but don't worry so much now.

Dropping a snack on the floor....10 second rule counts around here!

Reading at the table. She'll only sit and eat her meal if we read her books, not great table etiquette but oh well it works!

[muskiesusan]

I have never been concerned about dirt, and everyone thinks I am odd. Glad to find similiar company!

Alex's language/other development-still no words, but I know the day will come when he won't shut up and eventually he will learn where his nose is.

ETA: The kids getting hurt. If they fall or something, for the most part, I don't worry about it. I can usually tell right away if it's serious or not, and let it be if it's not. I will comfort if requested, lol.

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04