DS8mos clearly has some "special" needs. It seems likely that he's smart, but, obviously, we don't really know yet. There are more questions than answers, for example "did he just say 'wait,' or was that a fluke?" "does he want me to explain _more_ about that firehose, or does he just need a nap?" and the BIG ONE (of late) "He appears to really want to walk without help, but he's a bit scared -- should we 'teach' him when he seems to be showing interest, or would that be too much pressure?"
I posted in complete and utter frustration not that long ago about our parenting disagreements, and got some good answers. And now I want my very own thread so I can stop hogging someone else's! So there.
What daemons have you faced in parenting your kids either because of your experiences as a child, or because of their special needs? How have you confronted them? How do you manage gut reactions that you know are unwise? How do you negotiate Big Deal differences in parenting style (our current eg: DH calls things like demonstrating a toy "pushing," I consider refusing to acknowledge what I consider to be questions "holding back" -- I'm not sure our comfort zones actually overlap at all, and if they do, I suspect they won't for much longer)?
And since the "pushing" question is big in our house:
How do you find ballance between "pushing" and "understimulating?" What have you done when co-parents disagree on this? Is it ever ok to push a kid when they are already ahead of age performance, and are there times when it is necesary to push them despite their being ahead of dates? At what age can a child benefit from teaching?
-Michaela who feels like a VERY new mom right now.
