I've wondered how women of pioneer era accomplished all that they did. In that era there wasn't a local convenience store to fall back on if you had a bad day and needed a rest.
Both men and women had a tough road to walk and they had to depend upon each other. Neighbors were important too, but. . .
Those were the times when OCD hadn't been invented yet, but if you weren't an 'overachiever' you probably weren't a survivor.
When Old Fuzzy and I were first married I decided I wanted to look at how God designed 'things' to work and then to follow as closely how they were supposed to work as God had intended.
I wanted to have the children at home and to breast feed our little ones. The home birth never became an option, and with the two oldest I struggled with the breast feeding and after a few months gave up.
I had trouble sitting because I thought I should be up getting over being pregnant. That was a bad goal, and if I'd listened to the older women, who told us to take it easy; to rest and recover...but no back to normal was what I wanted. Something I never figured out was after children there isn't such a thing as back to normal.
Life is a whole new ballgame, and you learn as you go and grow. By the third child, however, I was determined to make the breast feeding item work.
What that meant was feeding the baby for as long as it took for baby to get full/fall asleep.
After the feeding hour was over and the little one slept, I would jump up and work on house work. That was my schedule. Feed baby one hour, house work one hour, feed baby...
The key was to learn to be passive enough to allow the little one to lead the discussion. It takes babies a bit to understand how they will fit into this world. They don't cry to be annoying, it's the only way they can communicate.
With our first child the local wife-wisdom was 'at certain times babies will just have to be left to cry'. So, if you put them to bed and they weren't ready...just let them cry for a bit.
I jettisoned that bit of wives tale. There are times when baby will cry, if you are preparing a bottle and they're hungry, or whatnot, but there isn't a lot of virtue in a crying child.
Here is a link to a pediatrician with tips on how to quiet a crying child. First make sure the diaper is dry and the tummy isn't hungry.
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. (Ecclesiastes 11:5-6 KJV)
