I'm a full-time mummy

You see, there are several times after taking a few bites of his meal (quite often during dinner), Ben refuses to finish up his meal. I know some parents will teach their kid a lesson by not letting them eat later when they get hungry. Kinda like a lesson to their child that you can't always get what you want.

But I can't see myself doing that.

I don't want to be pleading to my child to finish up their meal too - else I would be doing that everytime this happens.

Now what I do is, if he doesn't want to eat anymore (after asking him and confirming that he's not hungry yet), I'll move his plate away and when he gets hungry later, I will make him oats and add in whatever dishes we had earlier (example: chicken or fish or vegetables)

He always finishes up his meal after that. That's what I wanted in the first place, just that he doesn't finishes it together with us during meal times.

When it comes to meal time, how do you ensure your child finishes their meal?

Welcome to the February 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Respectful Interactions With Other Parents

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have focused on how we can communicate with other parents compassionately.

As a mummy blogger, I do receive questions from other mummies with regards to breastfeeding, baby care, vaccination, parenting style and so on. I try my best to share my experience with these mummies and also explained the logic why we adopted such methods and so on. Now as a parent, we will surely meet with other parents who will not agree with our parenting style.

What this post does is how we can have respectful interactions with other parents though we might not agree with their parenting methods or style. Below are some of the things we do to be respectful to others despite disagreeing with others parenting styles:

* Focus on the things we agreed on

Rather than trying to defend or criticize further, we should focus on the things we agreed on. For example, when Ben started teething, my MIL tried to introduce the pacifier to him so that he can bite on it to relieve his teething. I do not agree with the use of a pacifier but rather than keep trying to explain and defend my points and reasons (I did initially!), I realised its just time wasting because other parents (especially old folks) are not easily swayed with our reasoning.

Why? They have been a parent long before you became one and most likely they have more number of children than you - hence more points for them to tell you to do what they say since they are older and they have more children than you. So, just agree to the point of 'Yes, Ben is teething, good for you to notice that too and I do agree we have to get him something to bite on to relieve his teething!' and we got him a teething toy instead of a pacifier.

And we're experiencing the same thing now, all over again with Alyson started teething recently, so I dug out the teething toy again and gave it to her the moment my MIL started mentioning about getting her to use a pacifier. War deflected...

* Learn from others

Though I may not agree with some of the advice given by others (such as my caring MIL), I do hope they meant well and not trying to put me down and make themselves feel superior. And as much as we would want to tell them to mind their own business, do try to see from their point of view and see whether there are any truths or logics in what they say.

Other than the above, there are many other methods which I read from the Internet which I would like to try on such as:

* Do not criticize or change the other parent's discipline in front of the child, nor undermine that discipline when the other parent isn't around.

* It is okay to acknowledge a difference of opinion, call a time-out, go off to discuss it, and come back with a joint solution.

So what about you?

How do you remain respectful despite disagreeing with others on a parenting style?

I always have the weirdest and luckiest luck ever! I stumbled upon the contact details of Boo Rad Lee Clothing and upon checking out their product range, I immediately emailed to them asking whether they are OK with international bloggers reviewing their products, and my oh my, they are happy to provide me a product of my choice from their website for my review! Brad is fast to respond and very friendly! So here goes my review for the "That Ceiling Fan Is Amazing Onesie by Boo Rad Lee Clothing":

About Boo Rad Lee Clothing:
"Boo Rad Lee Clothing is a family-owned clothing company based in Nashville, TN. The McConnells decided to start this clothing line after the birth of their first child, a boy. Looking around the normal places for clothes was kind of a painful experience for them. Most baby clothes were either way too old-fashioned, a little stupid, or just plain ugly. Brad started jotting down slogan ideas of his own for onesies, subjects that no one was covering. While there were plenty of onesies talking about the glory of boobs, there were very few slogans that were smart AND funny. Brad set out to change that.

Using self-taught Photoshop skills and a healthy dose of bathroom humor, Brad created design after design that made his wife, Jennifer, laugh. She suggested that he should sell them, and before long, the couple enlisted the help of a few friends to pick the best designs for their very first print run. Brad continues to crank out design ideas while Jennifer helps him edit and gets them ready to sell. Boo Rad Lee Clothing has expanded their sizes, colors, and designs, and is quickly becoming the best place to find the coolest baby and kids clothing available."

When Brad asked me which design I would like to review from his store, this one particular onesies caught my attention. I am a big fan of purple colored stuff and the caption on the onesies is just too cute to ignore!

Now stop ogling on that onesies and look below to see it being worn by my cutie! Heheh... It looks so adorable on my cheeky girl! When I first showed it to my hubby (with my girl wearing it of course) he too burst out laughing and said that it is very cute! Even more surprised was when I told him I got it for my review hehehe...

Anyway, back to my review, of course, as usual, I will run some tests which are pre-washing it, drying and wearing it. The colors and size remain as it is after washing and drying which is great (I have some not so good experience with other onesies brand which bleeds after soaking)

I love the comfortable cotton material too. You may notice the length is a teeny bit too long for my girl but that is because I requested for the biggest size available (my girl is wearing size 12 months for her current onesies).

You can get this onesies or browse for other designs from Boo Rad Lee Clothing's website.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Boo Rad Lee Clothing in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.