Parenting: Why I try to avoid saying Never

Parenting is not as easy task.  You are pulled in many directions and bombarded by countless opinions.  Should you cloth diaper or use disposables, should you breast feed or formula feed, co-sleep or crib only, or a combination of all of those.  Plus there are always people watching you ready to criticize or compliment you.  While the compliments are usually welcome, the criticisms are usually not.  

Oftentimes I have heard parents say " I'd NEVER do that..." In one thing I've learned about being a parent for the 2 years I've had my son is that you have to be flexible.  Things are never black and white and many things come into play.  

If you had asked the Chief a few years ago if he would ever use a harness, he would have adamantly said he would never use one. Fast forward a few years and a toddler that didn't want to walk holding hands ( like literally would not walk as it ruined his balance) and harness use has its merits. It also came in quite handy when I was largely pregnant and could not run after a darting 23 month old.

I cloth diaper 75% of the time. At night I use disposables, on long trips I use disposables, and sometimes when I'm behind on laundry I use disposables.  I did try at nighttime and I had so many leaks so I stopped.  I did try on trips, but with baby changing facilities lacking at many rest stops, disposables work as they are less likely to leak even if I can't change for a bit.  And sometimes laundry just creeps up on you and there is suddenly a mountain to do.  When I first started, I wanted to be able to say I never use disposables, but I realized that was not a practical thing for me to do. I was flexible in my decision.  

While there are bad parents out there, I think most parents want what is best for their child in their opinion.  Opinions can vary among cultures and even family members. Recently on one of my mommy groups I belong to, a picture was posted of a mother putting her baby on the floor of a 7-11 while she got her older daughters' slushies. Some people reacted to the picture with outrage.  Personally I didn't think it was the end of the world. It was a split second decision to put the baby down to help her older daughters. 

So I try to never say never about many things in parenting as I might just eat those words later. Parenting is all about choices and as long as your child is healthy and happy ( with in reason) when you make those choices then they are the right choices.