Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: AskMoxie

HALP!

I am a planner, a compulsive organizer, a scheduler, a list-maker, an I-can-do-anything kind of girl. When my son was born, I found myself in uncharted (and dark and scary) waters. Apart from having a newborn to care for, I was adjusting to a whole new range of emotions, a non-existent routine, and tortuous sleep deprivation. It was not pretty.

My son has never been a great sleeper. In the beginning, he was pretty much a non-sleeper. He was also a very hungry breastfed newborn. I was feeling desperate, exhausted, and defeated when I finally turned to the best source of encouragement and assurance that I could think of: The Internet.

In that search for help, I stumbled upon AskMoxie. For the next several hours--no, days--I read and read and began to relax and finally realized that I could and should cut myself some slack.

When I read this:

"No one gets to tell you what to do unless they're also willing to take a shift at 3 am."

And this,

"I think you're doing a great job. Your child is lucky to have you as a parent."

I knew I had found a goldmine. Right above a list of topics pertaining to parenting, from Appropriate Behavior to Weaning, Moxie's disclaimer reads,

"I'm not a doctor of any sort, or a psychologist, or a development expert, or any kind of expert at all. I'm just a mom of two kids. Nothing I say here should be construed as medical or developmental advice. Read what I say, then make your own decisions. I am not responsible for your actions. "

She may not be an "expert" in the traditional sense of the term, but she has helped to build a community of parents who share ideas and encouragement. To me, that is far more valuable than a wall-high stack of physician-authored child-rearing books.