Iain and the Continuum Concept

Ever since we saw that Bringing up Baby on Channel 4 and were shocked to realise the carry-the-baby-all-the-time plan really appealed to us both, Iain and I have had our own predictable approaches to preparing to formulate our own version of the method. I've found every website I want to use, flicked through as many books as are available in the UK, chosen one to buy and have ordered it (the Sears book - the Attachment Parenting one - I hope it's true that it's the only one we need ... what we DON'T need is an abundance of books to distract us from Lambykins him/herself, nor do we need so much to read that there is a serious discrepancy between what I have read and what Iain has read). Iain has been pondering, and spouting wisdom every now and then based on his viewing of the show, and my updates from what I have read. He's a smart cookie and doesn't miss a thing!

Well yesterday he stepped it up a notch - he read the Continuum Concept website! He had asked if I was buying the book when we went in to a couple of bookshops to look at parenting books together last week in Cambridge, and I replied a lot of it is on the website (it is) and a lot is anthropological and it's not very 'how to'. Seeing as we're already very keen on the anthropological evidence and believe that socialising pretty much accounts for everything we do, reading the book would be poor use of the limited reading time Iain's going to be able to put in. We can always read the book for kicks another time!

He found it interesting, it seemed, but he was frustrated by the fact that the excerpts he was reading did not tell him how a Western parent was supposed to undo the problems created by the child-centred interactions that build up and implode over time. I had an answer about how I would diffuse the child's frustration, if it were my own child - you can't use your own chosen methods on someone else's child in my opinion - but we're obviously seeing the problems in different lights as my answers did not seem like solutions to Iain. It'll be a long road, right, till we are both sure about what the plan is?!!

He was funny! He started laughing when he got to the bit where the baby gets carried about all day by an older kid - 4 to 12 year old normally - and the older child brings the baby back to Mum when it's feeding time. He said, 'Brishti's about 4, she can carry Lambykins around!' LOL - we decided Zain is too small!

Should be fun finding out what it all really involves!

He liked the Baby Whisperer book, it kind of went along the same lines as the things we had talked about between ourselves before.

Most of all I'm so glad we see things the same way. The devil's in the detail of course, and the mockery of outsiders will always tick me off and Iain's support will mean I won't yell at people - even if it's 'well meaning' or 'good natured' mockery, can't wait to hear people get offended because I'm not impressed with their 'jokes' (WTH??? mocking our parenting skills! Like that's ever going to go down well!!)

Should I have more faith in other people's ability to just be there for us? Hmm... Bacon wasn't right ... so maybe everyone will surprise me ... but seriously, it's NEVER worked out before ... people just HAVE to say insensitive things, it's like the law or something. I'm sure I do the same, as I am, indeed , PEOPLE.