Hellobee Boards

Does overall parenting philosophy count? I grew up fundamentalist, and even after moving away from that I maintained a "to train up a child" mindset on parenting. Had DH and I not waited to have kids, that's how I would have parented. I'm now very pro-attachment parenting/positive discipline/RIE (sort of my own mish mash of it all), which is about as far from where I started as you can be. I would have had SO many regrets if I hadn't made that shift till after we had kids, and I'm so happy that the timing worked out so that I can parent the way I really believe in from the start!

Also, I've become more and more minimalist over the years, which is related to increased frugality. So I'm with you on that as well. LO will never know any different, and my house won't be nearly as cluttered as it would have been 5 years ago!

@DillonLion: I have a cousin who does attachment parenting, so she's probably where I first heard of it. But reading mostly. The more I read, the more I recognized what really resonated with me. I tend to be set in my ways, so in a lot of areas it took me a while to realize I needed to change my views when I went from fundamentalist to atheist (I stayed pro-life for years before realizing I didn't actually agree with it anymore). But the more I read, the more I didn't agree with anything about the authoritarian parenting style I was raised with. ETA- Also, the blog LoveJoyFeminism. I started reading it because it's a great atheist feminist blog, but she also talks about parenting occasionally. I found myself agreeing with what she wrote a ton, which encouraged me to research further. She did a whole series on to train up a child which was really eye opening. I'm not naturally a critical thinker at all, so I didn't see a lot of the issues with it until reading her points on it.

@DillonLion: It's basically the most extreme authoritarian parenting style out there. Spanking starts in infancy, there's a bit about literally sitting on your child to hold them down until they submit, etc. Children have died because of parents using the techniques recommended in that book. It's awful. Decent summary at the link- http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/authoritarian-parenting

My eating habits! I completely cleaned up my eating habits before LO1 even started solids because I wanted to set an example and set her up for a life of freedom from food addictions. But DH doesn't eat clean so her food selections still aren't stellar but her meals are far better for her than they would have been if I had stayed on my previous path. And health, in general, is a total passion of mine now that I never would have discovered if it wasn't for her!