6 Things You DON'T Need To Worry About

Friday, October 12, 2012 6 Things You DON'T Need To Worry About Parenthood is hard enough without us making it harder on ourselves -- and yet we always do. As pediatricians and friends, we talk about this all the time. Every day, we talk with distressed parents -- and often parents stress out when they don't have to. Some of the concerns are common misconceptions. Some come from other parents who innocently pass on misinformation they've heard. And then there's the Internet. Everyone from your neighbor to your mother-in-law to your sister has an opinion. All this makes parents (including those of us who are doctors!) worry more. Keep Reading: What Two Pediatricians Say NOT To Worry About WATCH: Kid Grows Up In 6 Minutes The Best Tweets From Parents This Week WATCH: Big Sister Gives The Cutest Advice LOOK: How Motherhood Is Like College 15 Ways To Help Kids Stand Up To Bullying BLOG POSTS Amy Lennard Goehner: Infertility, Miscarriage, Autism, Widowhood -- and other Funny Tales Fred and I had only 11 years together. But we packed a lot in. Selena Cameron: How Work Saved Me From Postpartum Depression The images conjured up by the mention of PPD are generally of mothers struggling to bond with their newborns and experiencing feelings of extreme sadness. Using my focus group of one, that's exactly what I thought of when someone brought up PPD. That is, until I went through it myself. Jennifer Garner: C- Is Just Not Good Enough for Our Kids A report card marked with too many C's and D's is not something to boast about. Unfortunately, those are just the kinds of grades America brought home yesterday, earning an overall C- in a new report released by Save the Children and First Focus. Susan Stiffelman: Ask the Parent Coach: Kids and Embarrassing Questions Kids are passionate learners, eager to understand the world around them. They've discovered that the best way to make sense of things is to ask! Jennifer Dorr: Are You There God? It's Me, Mommy: How Unaffiliated Parents Can Fill 'the Void' When They Don't Want to Join a Religious Institution Joining a temple now seems artificial. And let's just say my husband is utterly disinterested in the whole house-of-worship thing. When I discussed this with a friend who recently joined a church, he said, "Just make sure there is something to fill the void."

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