Parents have a lot to say about home life, but some of them can’t quite put words in their children’s mouths.
So, what’s a parent to do?
Devin Booker and her husband, Simon, decided to do a bit of research to figure out what works for their three-year-old daughter.
The pair recently found that the most common response to their questions was “nothing,” so they decided to ask their own children what their mom and dad said about home.
“We knew we were going to get a lot of ‘No’s’ when we started asking the kids what they thought about their parents,” Devin says.
“But we wanted to make sure our kids were comfortable being the ‘No’ kids in the room.”
For the most part, their response was positive.
The only exception to this rule came from Devin’s daughter, who seemed slightly taken aback at her mother’s suggestion that “things were a little off” at home.
This wasn’t the first time Devin and Simon’s daughter had spoken about home to them, and it’s the first book she’s read about the subject.
Their goal was to explore the differences between the two mothers’ responses, and how their daughter could use that knowledge to make a better home.
What to Expect When it Comes to the Big Picture: Your Baby’s First Year in the World Devin, a mother of two, had two children with her husband and their two-year old daughter when she was a single mother.
“I don’t think there’s any one way to think about a baby and its first year, and then I thought, ‘Well, let’s take a look at what I know,’ ” she says.
Devin describes her baby’s first year as “kind of a whirlwind.”
“She’s a really good kid, but she’s also a little bit of a wildcard,” she says of her baby.
“She doesn’t know her name yet.
She hasn’t even got a name yet.”
Devin found that she could learn a lot from her daughter.
“It’s a good time for a lot more than just talking about things that are happening in the house.
She’s really interested in her first year and how the world works,” she explains.
“The most important thing she’s learned is to learn how to use her hands to play.”
For a few months after she gave birth, Devin was home alone with her daughter and a few other little boys.
When she returned to the house with her sons, she noticed that the girls were doing a lot less than she had anticipated.
“That was pretty surprising, because the last time I had seen them, they were really enjoying the house,” she recalls.
“So, that was really nice.
I knew they were doing well.”
The boys were also getting better at housework.
Devine says the boys had gotten used to spending time alone in the yard.
“They’re used to playing outside,” she adds.
“And they’re starting to learn that if they want to play outside, they have to be around people.”
As Devin puts it, “The boys are starting to like the house, and the house is starting to look like a great place to be.”
How to Prepare Your Home: A Guide to Getting Your Baby to Sleep While Devin had to leave her home for her second child’s first birthday, she did manage to get her daughter to sleep for one night during her first month of life.
“You can’t expect your baby to sleep all the time,” she warns.
“Your baby will sleep a lot and he will have a good night’s sleep.
So the last thing you want to do is to try and make your baby sleep all of the time.”
“Your job as a mother is to be your baby’s sleep therapist, and you need to be there for him to sleep and wake up, and for him not to sleep too much.”
The Best Way to Make Your Child Sleep Well “I really think the way you make him sleep well is by making sure you’re providing lots of time for him and keeping him active and not too busy.
I think it’s important to be mindful of that.
You can’t get the most out of your baby if he sleeps too much,” she concludes.
“If you can keep your baby awake and active, then you can also make sure that he is getting the best sleep possible.”
“The key is to make him feel like he has a purpose and a purposeful life,” Devine concludes.
It sounds simple, but it can seem like a lot.
For Devin it’s a lot easier to make the most of your time at home when she’s there, too.
“Sometimes I think, ‘I’m going to have to do this for my baby.’
I know my baby will need that,” she admits.
“This is where I need to learn my own parenting skills, so I can be the best mom I can, so she doesn
