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My Mother-in-Law’s Anti-Advice Could Have Prevented My Depression
In hindsight, it was the only “advice” worth taking seriously
Months leading up to the birth of my son Nate, I was in “consumption” mode. I read every book I could find on parenting and fatherhood. I read articles about brain development for babies and watched Netflix’s TV show, Babies. I asked for advice from every parent I knew.
“I only want one child, so I don’t want to screw anything up,” was my thinking.
Well, guess what? I screwed up anyway! I’d even argue that I screwed up more because I was more “informed”.
But I’m jumping ahead…
Three months before Nate’s birth, I took note of every piece of advice I could get my hands on, especially from parents in my entourage. Sadly, none of it applied in our case. That’s the thing with babies — not a single one is the same. There’s no such thing as an average baby.
The same is true in adulthood, that’s why I’m not reading much life advice anymore. Your context is different from mine, and so everything I say you “should” do is irrelevant. I don’t know you. Only you truly know yourself.
