Conductivity

I want to have a laid-back parenting style.  I have mistaken this with being a laid-back parent*.  But yesterday I realized that having a laid-back parenting style and being a laid-back parent are two different things.  Let me explain.
- A laid-back parenting style is when the child has a boo-boo, you laugh it off.  When a small child thinks they have hurt themselves, the first thing they do is to look at the parent to see what the parents reaction is.  If the parent is freaking, then the child follows the parents lead and freaks out too.  The laid-back parenting style is when you go with the flow.  Yes, there are bumps in the road, but just go for it.  You might have a fun time bouncing along.
- With a laid-back parent, you might have a tendency to forget about your child.  Wonderful example of this is when a parent looses their child, at lets say a large chain bookstore.  The parent goes to the Bookseller to let the store know he/she can't find his/her child.  The Bookseller asks what the child is wearing and the parent has no clue.  The bookstore proceeds to call a Code Adam, giving an approximate description.  The child then pops up a minute later after hearing the Code Adam and recognizing the description as their own.  Then having the child say to the parent, "I was sitting right where you left me." 
I have realized that I don't want to be the laid-back parent, I want to have the laid-back parenting style.  How did I come to this realization, you may ask?  That is a wonderful question!  I keep forgetting exactly how mobile Pookie is and how fast he can crawl.  It dawned on me yesterday at the end of a mothers group.  I ended up talking with the leader of the group for a minute, to follow up on a question I had asked.  I should have done something when Pookie went for one of the other mom's feet.  (He has a strange fascination with feet.  Maybe because he thinks his toes are so tasty, maybe other peoples are too...)  When I next looked over he was sitting under a table and trying to stick his finger in the electrical outlet in the wall.  Seeing as I have managed to electrocute myself twice, (don't ask) I know that he would only get zapped.  But seeing that he's a very active boy, he's going to need all the brain cells he can keep.  I know he's going to knock his noggin many times in the process of growing up.  I would like to keep Pookie relatively intelligent.  As a side note, I managed to grab Pookie before he managed to stick his finger in the outlet.

In other fun events, Pookie managed to pull himself into a standing position today.  After dinner he was getting into the cooling racks.  He also managed to get his thumb stuck in between the racks, which is why I put them away.  As I was loading the dishwasher, he decided to grab onto the door and with that leverage grab onto the Kitchen-Aid mixer.  With that he fully pulled himself into a standing position to better reach the cooling racks.  After a minute or so of trying to reach the racks, he plunked down on his bottom.  He landed with a thunk.  Good thing his bottom is padded!  He was still a little jarred from the experience!



*I am not sure if "laid-back parent" is the correct term I am looking for.  However, seeing as I can't think of a better term at this moment, it will have to do.