I'm "one of those" moms. Did you know that? I put my child on a leash at the mall the other day. She's been mobile a while now, and utterly refused to stay in the stroller. I know how much she loves being free to move, so we ran down to Sears and picked up a leash/backpack that was a fuzzy little sheep. I can put a drink and snack in it for her too while we run around. I knew I'd become the mom putting her baby on a dog leash the moment my daughter learned to walk. She moves fast and gets into lots of things. Even with supervision, I feel better having her on the harness. If a couple people think I'm lazy, or cruel, who cares. My daughter is one of the happiest, smartest 15 month olds I've met.
There are other things too. I've let me daughter eat Cheerio's that she's dropped on the living room floor. I clean it regularly, and she eats specks of dirt off of it when I'm not looking anyways. I don't use a plate on her high chair/booster seat. If she eats beefaroni, or peaches, or green beans, it's right off the tray. She just dumps the plate everywhere anyways, even the suction cup plates. She's stronger than everyone thinks. The suction cup just means she's got momentum going and the food flies father when she gets it loose.
Sometimes I let her nap in strange places. Like here:
Sometimes she runs laps around the kitchen table, or (like this morning) around me. I let her be herself, and be free the best that I can, while still keeping her safe. I do things some parents think are evil, but honestly, I'm too busy most of the time to care much what they think.
And for the record, the doctor tells me she's one of the healthiest kids he's ever seen, every single visit.
