Issue link: http://hvparent.uberflip.com/i/659359
6 Hudson Valley Parent n April 2016 Publisher TERRIE GOLDSTEIN tgoldstein@excitingread.com Editor FELICIA HODGES fhodges@excitingread.com Executive Assistant to the Publisher BRITTANY L. MORGAN bmorgan@excitingread.com Media Advisor MARY ZAK mzak@excitingread.com Community Liaison PAMELA PERRY pperry@excitingread.com Traf f ic Manager PAM SOSCIA psoscia@excitingread.com Intern COLLEEN THORNTON Layout & Design ENGLE PRINTING also publishers of MY TripPlanner.com family MY TripPlanner.com family baby The HUDSON VALLEY G U I D E Hudson Valley Parent is published monthly by: The Professional Image Marketing & Public Relations Inc. 174 South Street • Newburgh, NY 12550 Phone: 845-562-3606 • Fax: 845-562-3681 hvparent.com This publication is copyrighted by the publisher. Reproduction without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Hudson Valley Parent welcomes submissions, although we cannot accept responsibility for work submitted nor guarantee publication. A MEMBER OF A s soon as friends and family know that the rabbit died and you'll soon be expect- ing your first bundle of joy, advice on how to feed, bathe, diaper and put baby to sleep will fly in from ev- ery direction. Sometimes, what's offered conflicts with other advice or may even seem to go against every law of common sense. For a first-time parent, it can be a bit overwhelming. It certainly was for me - but, eventu- ally, we figured it out and my son managed to make it safely to adult- hood without too many physical or emotional scars. Yes, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. As a karate instructor, an adage my students repeat at the end of each class is this: "Discard the bad and keep the good." It helps as a reminder that sometimes, techniques that work flawlessly for some folks don't work so well for others. It happens, and it's important that they come to terms with that and move on so they can find something that works for them. In other words, everything ain't for everybody - and parenting kind of works the same way. But still, that conflicting advice can drive you batty if you let it. When we asked our readers about the best and worst parenting advice they ever got, the responses flooded in. And yes, the conflicts were pretty evident: "The best advice I ever got was not to let baby sleep in my bed with me. I know co-sleeping is a hot debate topic, but I figured my older sister wouldn't steer me wrong. Sleepy time has always been a routine and it's worked out so well for us." — Rochelle Gioggia "The worst advice? Don't ever co-sleep. Co-sleeping works for my family!" — Carrie Casullo Best: "Sleep when the baby sleeps." — Karen Butters Pogge Worst: "Sleep when your baby sleeps - although I couldn't because when he did sleep all I did was stare at him and make sure he was breath- ing! I was a walking zombie the first two weeks! " — Jenna Williams There were also some nuggets of wisdom that were pretty poignant while others were pretty funny: "I read something in 'Dear Abby' almost 20 years ago, and still try to live by it: On judgement day, if God should say, did you clean your house today? I will say, I did not, I played with my children, and I forgot." — Lori Ann "As long as he's potty trained by the time he leaves for college, you are fine." — Diane Tarabar Troeller "We had a plaque in our house that read 'Pa is boss as everyone knows, but what Ma says ALWAYS goes!'" — Lori Ann "Try everything. What works for one child may or may not work for another, but it's worth a shot." — Cathy Lynn Keller We can't all be wrong, can we? A little of this, a little of that FELICIA HODGES Editor's Journal