How do you handle all the advice?
By By Leada Gore, Editor
If you ask me, the word “advice” is misspelled. It should be spelled “advise,” since essentially the two words are the same. In fact, we could just eliminate the word “advice” and use “advise” instead, such as “just a word of advise,” although I admit that doesn’t sound as good.
The reason for this thought is when people offer advice they are really trying to advise. This often means they feel they have something you need to know, something they can impart to help you. And if you want to receive some advised advice – a lot of it – all you need to do is have a child.
Case in point – Sutton is learning to walk. My mother is firmly in the shoe camp. All my baby photos show me laced up in some pretty clunky white shoes, the same ones I was wearing when I took my first steps. When Sutton was old enough to do more than lay around, my mother informed me I was to take her to the store and have her properly fitted for some shoes.
Figuring she raised three kids and all of us learned to walk, I followed her advice. We went to the shoe store, had Sutton’s little foot measured and had her fitted for some shoes. They aren’t the clunky white variety, but the sandals have a pretty substantial and firm sole.
Thinking I had really accomplished something, I put Sutton in these shoes almost everyday. She didn’t really like them and, more often than not, ended up chewing on the hard rubber sole.
I didn’t tell mother that part.
Fast froward a couple of months. Greg’s mom – who’s raised three kids of her own and they all learned to walk, too- was visiting. I was getting Sutton dressed and I put her sandals on her feet.
Barefoot? That’s a long way from sturdy white shoes that would look more at home on a Chinese factory worker.
Still, figuring Mary knew what she was talking about, I pulled off Sutton’s sandals and she went off both barefoot and happy.
So now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. What do you do when the advice for your child is conflicting? The only thing I know to do is try to come up with some sort of compromise.
When Sutton’s with my mother, she will wear her white sandals. When she’s with Greg’s mom, she will go barefoot. Neither one will know that the other one thinks their way is right. Hopefully, Sutton won’t spill the beans and get me in trouble.
