Pregnancy, giving birth, feeding, and raising a child has changed so much in the last thirty (hell, even the last ten) years. Parents (mothers especially) are so overwhelmed with social media sharing, judgement of others, and generally just being under a microscope – it’s no wonder we lose our shit!

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We were lucky in that my pregnancy and delivery was relatively easy. I had a natural delivery with a mid-wife and breastfeeding was fairly straight-forward.

But I realize that not all women had the same experience.

I can honestly say that I can be a bit on the judgy side at times and I have been known to offer unsolicited advice from time to time. But not when it comes to the art of child-rearing. I did not want everyone’s opinion of how my daughter was delivered, what we fed her, and how we discipline her.

We, as a family, don’t always eat the greatest.

Our daughter, an only child, does not have any food allergies (fortunately). So she really does eat whatever! She is not a picky eater and enjoys a wide array of foods. She eats her vegetables, enjoys scallops wrapped in bacon, and loves her some grilled steak!

But, like any other kid, she could eat pasta for nearly every meal, fruit juice and pop is consumed more than water, and packaged meals are a staple in our house. We don’t eat really well. We go for convenience over healthy – most of the time.

Don’t get me wrong, we do prepare fresh salads in the summer and hearty soups in the winter. We just don’t put super-food-healthy, non-gmo, steroid free, organic, gluten free, earth-friendly, fat free – need I go on???? – choices at the top of our shopping list. We eat an apple without washing it first, buy the full fat sour cream, and eat the beef with all the additives! Hasn’t killed me yet! What harm will it do to my child?!

Growing up, my parents never really put much of a premise on healthy eating. I always vowed that I would raise my children differently and instill more of a health-conscience upbringing in them. But, as they say, we all become our parents at some point in our lives. Shhhh, don’t say tell them I said that!

Screen time has NO limit!

TV and tablet time is another hot topic of debate in today’s generation of parents. For me, there’s a time and a place, and it’s all about a happy balance. If it’s nice outside than let’s find an outdoor activity that the family can enjoy together – unplugged. If the weather is rainy and down-right crappy than let’s snuggle together and watch a couple of movies. Parents can often do with a bit of screen time themselves. Not for mom and dad, but for the kids in order to give the folks a wee break!

We put a TV in our daughter’s room last Christmas. At her age, we’re finding that she enjoys a little alone time – in front of the screen of course – which really doesn’t hurt anything. But her go-to choice of what she watches definitely raises a few eyebrows!

Your seven year-old watches WHAT?!

Similar to other kids her age, our seven year-old loves to watch princess movies, super hero flicks and Disney-Pixar animated blockbusters. But our sweet girl has an extra special place in her heart for horror movies. This new fad all started last fall, when during the month of October, a fair few TV stations played horror flicks nearly 24/7. Friday the Thirteenth was the movie that captivated her attention and now Jason Voorhees is her knight wielding a bloody machete!!

While at a recent visit to Walmart, we were perusing the discount movie bin. We can across a few family friendly titles like Jumanji and Back to the Future. But no, she finds Child’s Play and doesn’t want anything else! Of all the DVDs she could have chosen, Chucky is what she wants bring home!

The fact that we allow our daughter to watch these gory and often R-rated movies has had friends and family questioning our parenting skills. But, you know what, she understands that these scary characters are not real and the special effects and make-up and costumes make the movies what they are. She does not get nightmares from what she watches and we ensure that she doesn’t push her unconventional passion onto others.

So, in short, we are raising our girl the way we were raised. We are teaching her right from wrong, to respect herself and others, good values and manners, and to be happy. When it comes right down to it we all just want our kids to be healthy and happy. And each and every family has their own method of achieving that goal.