What's Your Philosophy?

So I know that I have beaten the food issue to death, but may I say a word about the spitting, or "razzing" as child development experts would have it. Don't ask me why it took an expert to call spitting "razzing" but apparently it is a developmental milestone. Seriously. My little boy has mastered this skill while eating. While I am being showered by pears I uselessly state in my best stern mommy voice, "Aiden, we do not spit. When you spit it makes Mommy angry". I know, I know, you are probably thinking that I am a little early expecting a six-month old to respond to discipline. Or, depending on which parenting philosophy you follow, you might think I have missed the boat completely and I am about 5 and a half months too late in establishing my authority. This would mean you follow the Babywise method and you believe in strictly regulating every aspect of your child's life, such as when they eat, sleep, and poop. Has this method every actually worked for anyone? Can we say control issues? Of course, we could go the complete opposite route and follow RIE parenting, which basically tells us we must never confine our children or pick them up without asking their permission. I can honestly say I have never once said, "Aiden, would you mind terribly if I picked you up now?" This is very similar to the TCS method, which believes that children should not be forced to do anything, basically a lack of dicipline. Bring in the future Nanny 911 stars. Now, I have to admit that AP or Attachment Parenting has good intentions. Good old Dr. Sears was right in his assessment that children do need to be nurtured, probably more than we once realized. That being said, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Does anyone ever get any sleep in the family bed, and how do these parents ever have more than one child, if you know what I mean. I will not be breastfeeding when my child is heading off to grade school. Enough said. So what is my parenting philosophy? It is something I like to call CSP or Common Sense Parenting. Much like Dr. Atkins, child experts each have their own extreme form of parenting, and each "expert" is convinced that his way is the only way, and if you do not follow it to a T you might as well send your kids to juvie now. By the way, these parenting schools are governed largely by men who may or may not actually have children. Anyway, in my CPS school, I follow my instincts. I learn a little more each day and I know my son. When he is hungry I feed him, when he is tired, I attempt (often unsuccessfully) to get him to nap, and when he spits, well I have not quite figured this one out yet but I think I have time to learn. The point is no one knows your child like you do, and you know what is best. Like fad diets, these parenting techniques will continue to go in and out of style faster than jean jackets. Before adopting (falling for?) any of them, trust your instincts and remember that Dr. Atkins weighed 248 pounds at the time of his death. I am just saying.