Each week I attend a baby class through the Early Family Childhood Education Program.  It's a wonderful program that helps me learn about different mothering techniques and ways to deal with Andrew. 

I love the class--it's a chance to meet with other moms who have small kids--and we share and compare baby stories--and it has been a tremendous blessing to my life.  It has helped me to be a better mother. I mean if I'm having a problem with Andrew, I can talk to these ladies and they have experienced the same things--so they have different ways of dealing with things that I never thought of.

Like last week, we were talking about teething--and one of the gals in the class told me about frozen pacifiers--she puts juice in her baby's nippy and freezes it--when the little darling starts going through a "teething fit" mommy pops that little sucker out of the freezer and plugs her mouth--and the crying stops!

Sure enough, when I tried it with my Andrew--it worked like a charm.

But then again, there are some fundamental differences that just ain't working out for us. We just ain't gonna see eye to eye on some things.  Could be the way I was raised--and the fact that I'm the only black chick in the class.

A few months back--we were talking about ways to discipline and curb bad behavior.  There were 8 things moms can do to get better results from their kids--welllll, I searched the list high and low and didn't see anything on spankin'!  I promptly raised my hand and said "Umh excuse me... where is spanking on this list? I plan to beat him as soon as he's old enough to take a lick!" Those moms and that teacher looked at me like I had blood gushing from my eyeballs. 

The teacher tried to be diplomatic and said "Well, we don't promote physical abuse!"

I was like "Oh, I ain't gonna make him bleed or anything--don't plan on tearing off no skin like my momma did me--but I do plan on helping him to understand that I am the parent and he is the child!"

The next thing I know--there was a case worker waiting after class to "talk" to me.

One other time, we were talking about things that stimulate the baby's brain waves.  A mom in the class told us about how classical music helps her son understand language better.  The teacher started spouting off how classical music has been proven to make babies smarter.

They did the wrong thing... they went around the circle and started asking us what classical music we let our kids listen to.  When it came time for me to speak, I said proudly: "Oh, my Andrew listens to all the classical music, Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Ohio Players... he really likes that old R Kelley--you know, back when he was with the Public Announcement."

Them girls all took a deep breath at one time. They couldn't believe I was serious.  And sure enough--after class, the same damn case worker wanted to have a "conference" with me and Andrew. Only this time, we had a file!