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Debbie Abbott's avatar

Oh how cute that she has 2 little kids and is writing books on successful parenting. I had baited breath until my 4 daughters got though puberty, middle school, high school, college, social media, found jobs, friends, moved to their own homes and got off the pay roll before I considered myself a "success".

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JPWfEVG's avatar

Mother Abbott: You are eligible for sainthood. Signed parent and grandparent of eight.

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BikerChick's avatar

No itтАЩs a data driven book on questions parents have.

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sc_out's avatar

Her books could only loosely be called parenting books. TheyтАЩre more like Freakonomics but solely focused on kids, baby, pregnancy, parenting data. She could have zero kids and still approach her topics the way she did - hereтАЩs some data on hot topic issues, do whatтАЩs best for you, and relax a little. Kind of like What to Expect When YouтАЩre Expecting but with data that counters the common medical advice.

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Brian Katz's avatar

The way you describe it, it sounds like you didnтАЩt enjoy being a parent. All of those тАЬchallengesтАЭ listed were actually opportunities. YouтАЩll have another chance with grand kids. DonтАЩt waist it.

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Debbie Abbott's avatar

I loved being a parent, but it's hard. Especially from middle school on.

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Moderate Mom's avatar

If kids were born as middle schoolers, I would have stopped at one! Ha!

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Isabel's avatar

Yes! We are fooled by how cute babies can be...я┐╝

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Brian Katz's avatar

I get it. We all have different тАЬtoughтАЭ parts for sure.

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Bruce Miller's avatar

Each phase has its own joys and challenges. I tell my daughters that when their child is being particularly difficult just try to imagine if that child were taken from them, never to reappear. Because that's what the passage of time is like. In a flash the toddler is a teen and off to college and then a mom or dad of their own. It helps with perspective and patience. We all know that even the "terrible twos" was filled with more happiness than meltdowns.

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sc_out's avatar

Best parenting advice I ever got was тАЬDonтАЩt get too attached or too exasperated by any phase. None of them last longтАЭ. Sure enough, I couldnтАЩt hold onto the adorable toddler language phase long enough (daughter mispronouncing butterfly as beautiful-fly) and the tantrum-y and diaper phase passed just as swiftly too.

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Brian Katz's avatar

Yes Bruce. My oldest has moved on with her life far away and my youngest is in college. I picked my head up from working 35 years and they are gone. Not what I envisioned for in my retirement. So enjoy every minute to the fullest.

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