Parenting Advice, Round 2

When I was pregnant with Peter, everyone had advice for me. People I barely knew felt the urge to strike up a conversation and tell me what I absolutely had to do with my new baby, or what I should avoid at all costs. This time around, the parenting advice is almost non-existent, which I think is a little funny.

Does having one child mean that I no longer need advice? Have I mastered all there is to know about child-rearing? Or was the one hard-and-fast rule shared during last pregnancy the only thing I needed to remember, so these people feel their job is done? Whatever the reason, I'm happy to avoid conversations that I never learned how to politely escape.

Parenting expert! (10/31/2011)

And if you came here hoping to find a pearl of wisdom, here is my favorite bit of parenting advice: Never say never. As soon as you do, a situation arises in which you have to do what you said you would never do and then you are surrounded by people reminding you, "You said you'd never do that!"