This is my fifth week to participate in #ASKAWAYFriday. For those who don’t know what #ASKAWAYFriday is, you exchange a set of 10 questions for another blogger to answer. Below are 10 questions that Sonya asked me and I hope that you enjoy my answers.
This week I paired up with Sonya from Saving Everyday With Sonya K. She is married and is a mother of two. She loves online shopping and she loves sharing savings with her readers. If you are looking for coupons or great deals on clothing, you should check out her blog.
- I know you are passionate about breastfeeding, if you could erase one misconception about breastfeeding what would it be. For example, I would put a public service announcement out that you don’t have to stop breastfeeding once your baby gets teeth. People for some reason think that you can’t continue to breastfeed once your baby has teeth (maybe it’s just me but I get comments like, “you’re still breastfeeding and your baby has teeth).
Many people don’t realize that there are great health benefits to extended breastfeeding. In fact the World Health Organization (WHO), actually recommends breastfeeding your baby until their 2nd birthday. As a mom, I breastfed my own children past a year. My daughter weaned around 14 months, my oldest son around age 2, and my youngest was 18 months old. My older children have a great immune system and very rarely get sick. Most people think that once your baby gets teeth in that you should immediately stop breastfeeding because your baby might bite you. Yes, your baby might bite you. Firmly tell your baby ”no” and immediately take away the breast. Your baby will quickly figure out that they can’t bite if they want to continue breastfeeding. My son would typically bite when he was done eating. Also if I wasn’t a seasoned mom, my youngest son’s pediatrician would have made me feel like I should have stopped breastfeeding at a year old (find a pediatrician that supports your breastfeeding goals). In fact, the pediatrician urged me to stop breastfeeding when my son turned a year old but I knew the benefits of extended breastfeeding. I choose not to listen to the pediatricians advice. When I decided to wean my son, I slowly weaned him and it worked out great. We slowly cut out a feeding until we were down to one feeding a day. Then one day I stopped cold turkey and he took it very well. I wouldn’t recommend stopping cold turkey if you are still breastfeeding multiple times a day. If you do you will become very engorged and you will increase your risks of getting mastitis (a painful and potentially dangerous infection). Weaning slowly will reduce your chances of getting mastitis. If you are engorged, just release a small amount of milk in the shower to relieve the pressure and take Motrin for the pain. Just remember that milk is produced on supply and demand so don’t remove too much breast milk or you will stimulate continued milk production.
- I see you have a video with Dr. Laura Markham on your blog. I’m currently reading “Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids” by Dr. Laura Markham and enjoy reading her website Aha Parenting. I feel like I’m learned so much from Dr. Markham. What piece of advice from Dr. Markham has been most helpful for you?
I choose the video on my site because as a mom, I want my children to grow up as responsible adults. And I happened to stumble upon her video when I created my blog and felt that it fit my style of parenting. I tend to parent based upon my own instincts and learned how to avoid some of the same mistakes that my own mom did. I have always taught my kids how to be responsible at a very young age. As soon as they were old enough to help with the chores, I always had them do age appropriate chores. For example, picking up their toys, helping put their clothes where they belonged, help me pick up laundry off the floor, ect. As they get older they gain more responsibility and get assigned new age appropriate chores. I never give them chores that I didn’t think they could handle. My goal was to get them to participate in the household and I never expected them to do complete their chores perfectly. Instead, I wanted them to do their best and help with the household chores. As a parent, I know that I am not perfect but I do my best to raise my kids so that they will be independent responsible adults.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie or Oatmeal Cookie?
This is a tough choice because I like both of them. However, I usually end up baking chocolate chip cookies because my husband doesn’t care for oatmeal based cookies. I remember my grandmother used to bake both of these cookies and they were always the best.
- What is your favorite Christmas song?
My current favorite Christmas song is My Soul Magnifies the Lord by Chris Tomlin.
- Are you the type of parent you imagined you would be before you had kids?
This is a tough question, I imagined being a mom but never really thought about the type of parent that I would be. In some ways, I am like my mom and parent the way she did even though I did make some of my own changes. She was laid back and discipline wasn’t her strongest point. I am the exact same way. I often extend grace to my kids but I know when to take control when I need too.
- Last week Sarah asked me this question and now I’ll ask you. What is the last movie that you saw?
We saw “Turbo” a few nights ago. We typically rent movies from Redbox because as a family of 5 it is rather expensive to go the movie theater. I think the last movie I actually saw in the theater was “The Croods“.
- What type of cakes do you prefer (homemade, box cake, or store bought)?
I prefer store bought cakes with whipped icing; however, a box cake is just as tasty but the whipped icing in the tub has a ways to go. I don’t consider myself a baker and I lack the talent to make my own whipped icing. My daughter is better at cake decorating than I am.
- Are you an early or late Christmas shopper?
I try to get the bulk of it done fairly early so that I can get what the kids want or when I find a good deal. I still need to pick up a few stocking stuffers for my kids and to pick up my youngest son’s present from Walmart when it arrives at the store. Online shopping makes it easy to find what I am looking for without spending hours at the store. I love that I can pick up the item at the store to avoid paying shipping costs.
- Do you have a favorite movie? If so, what is it?
This is a tough question because there are so many great movies out there. Here is a list of a few of my favorite movies:
- I see a lot of parents complaining about Caillou on facebook. So do you love, hate, or tolerate Caillou?
I don’t watch Caillou very often, its not my son’s favorite show. I ended up watching it today because it was on when I turned on the television. Today’s show was about spiders and Caillou was scared of them until his dad told him that comics where just made up stories and that spiders actually have a purpose in this world. I think it is an educational show that does it’s best to help children use their imagination. I just think it is weird that Caillou is bald but at the same time it teaches kids that we are all different.
Don’t forget to visit Sonya at Saving Everyday with Sonya K to see the questions that I asked her. I hope that you have enjoyed my answers and learned some new things about me.
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Once you’ve check out my answers be sure to go by Penny at The Real Housewife of Caroline County to check out the LinkUp and all the awesome Bloggers who are also telling a bit about themselves today 10 questions at a time.
If you are interested in joining for the the next #AskAwayFriday, feel free to contact Penny or any of the other Bloggers already involved. I promise, you will get to meet and know some awesome Bloggers each week!
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