Thanks for the reinforcement.

I know I am a good Mom and I am raising him in a way that seems most natural to me. I do not have any younger siblings, none of my friends have kids, and I do not have much prior experience with children. While pregnant, I was planning on going back to school and working but immediately decided I wanted to stay home.

Overall I am incredibly confident in my mothering abilities, but I become insecure every once in a while. No one around me seems to be raising their children in a style similar to mine. I only know Moms who feed their kids McNuggets all day and keep them plopped in front of the tv. Since my son was born people have been telling me that I hold him too much, that we shouldn't co-sleep, and even that carriers are bad. My favorite was when I was at my parent's house and I was playing with some dolls with my son. My father first put down the toys for being boring and then told me to "Get a life" after I explained how much my son enjoyed the simpler toys. Not very supportive.

So, most of my parenting education comes from intuition and books. Both of which are helpful, but one can doubt oneself and books tend to give an all too perfect perspective on life with a young child. Your candor and advice from experience are really helpful.

I've been thinking about getting him a broom and wash basin. I was worried he was too young. I'll take your very helpful advice and get them. Most of all, I'll be a bit more confident about the way that I naturally wish to tend to him.

I have to spend some time really perusing that FlyLady website because she seems pretty fantastic.