"Just give up" - my favorite parenting advice

You never know when a random interaction will become a core memory.

I was sitting in the work room in general nephrology clinic one day, freshly returned from maternity leave with my first and complaining about sleep training. A very accomplished, ambitious colleague of mine was graciously listening between chart review but at some point turned to me and said “just give up already”. It was NOT what I expected her to say. This woman was a true badass. She had her first child while a senior resident and was now onto baby #2 in fellowship, and managed to breastfed both.

In my brain (at the time) I thought surely the only way to accomplish such a thing would be to tightly control all variables (ie your children, your schedule, your pumping output etc) so the machine (the family) runs efficiently (LOL). Instead, she was encouraging me to find ease. Take the path of less resistance. Be gentle. Truly, she blew my mind that one could be so successful while also inviting peace.

So. This is my advice for you: give up (on something). It doesn’t have to be the thing you’re here for (breastfeeding, healthy eating, etc). Maybe it’s the laundry. Or raking the leaves. Or the sourdough starter. Or maybe it is breastfeeding? (No judgement here). Just find something you can ease up on to let more peace into your life. Parenting is hard enough as it is.