What's Next, Mom?Stop what you're doing! But first, tell your baby you're about to stop, and then what's going to happen next. Otherwise that cute ball of baby might turn into a kid with attention deficient disorder. Or totally not. But that sounds scary, right?

Which is why there has been such a strong reaction against a psychiatrist's op-ed in The New York Times this week where he kind of blames parents for their children's ADD. I say kind of, because there is a lot more to unpack in the "Ritalin Gone Wrong" article, but what's making everyone angry is his reference to parents who suddenly switch activities with no warning to their babies and toddlers.

On the one hand, dude, seriously, if you pick up your baby when he's playing to put him in the bath, he's not going to develop ADD. On the other hand, I learned from my two babies that things go much better when you alert even the smallest of children to an imminent change. Naturally, I learned this the hard way.

Having a baby for the first time is a terrifying endeavor. No one would dare tell a new parent anything different. But as scary as it is, the fact is, you are not the first person to have a baby and you will almost surely not be the last, either. In other words: You do not need a baby planner.

Parents who hire baby planners (and there are many if you believe Rosie Pope and her show on Bravo all about planning for baby) are missing the point and also being taken. Sure, a baby planner might help ease some of the stress of planning for baby, but she can't raise the baby herself and, in many cases, is just an unnecessary expense for new moms who are scared and nervous and unsure.

Ask any new mother how she's handling life with a newborn, and she'll likely admit to being sleep-deprived, overwhelmed, a little out of it. But many new Moms, although not always likely to admit it, often feel depressed, out-of-control, and guilty that they're not more in love with their brand-new bundle of joy. For many, it's postpartum depression. For others though, it's a little more low-grade, more post-baby blues than full-blown depression. You worry that life is always going to be this exhausting and confusing, and wonder if maybe you weren't cut out to be a mother.

That was me about four months ago, and I'm confessing to it now because once I talked about it more, I realized that I wasn't alone in my feelings. Now, I love everything about being a Mommy, and I couldn't be more in love with my beautiful, happy, healthy baby boys. But back then, a part of me wondered, "Oh no, what have I done?"

It makes sense that a new dad would stare down into his baby girl's eyes and never ever want to throw around the word "bitch" ever again, does it not? Now there is science to back up Jay-Z's change of heart, and the rest of the dudes out there who suddenly find themselves face-to-face with a daughter. Apparently new dads begin to change their mind -- for the better -- about traditional gender roles after they're blessed with a girl child.

Let's hear it for baby girls changing the world, one dad at a time! 

I woke up this morning and could have sworn it was 2012. Yet, after reading this guy's fearful article about his wife leaving town for a few days (with one of the children even), I'm thinking some people might still be blissfully unaware of this new thing called "equality." A fresh reminder that not everyone believes men and women are both capable of taking care of the children hit me again as I dropped off my kids at school. For some reason it's surprising when people see my husband -- the father of our children -- dropping off the kids on occasion. You know, because he's a man and must have much more important things to do than I.

I don't get it. If a child has both parents at home, doesn't that imply that both parents are able to take care of his or her needs on a daily basis? Was there a special "mom" ceremony that I missed where we were given all of the power and responsibility over decision-making, butt-wiping, and the transportation of our children?

I've got big plans for you, kidWhile making a bucket list may be so totally 2010, it seems that particular phrase will not die. (Pun totally intended.) Which is why one particular parenting "bucket list" caught my eye for two reasons: 1) You can't really call it a bucket list unless the qualifier is "before I die," and 2) hey, I totally want to do this too!

After all, in the middle of child-rearing chaos, you can easily lose track of the big picture. The big picture being, these kids will grow up and not want to have anything to do with you. Or they'll be bigger than you and you can no longer force them to share an ice cream sundae or even a conversation.

With that inevitability in mind, I created my own parenting list of 15 things I really want to do with my kids before they never want to be seen with me ever again.

My Grandma and babyWhen you look at your babies, you can't help but think about what lies ahead for them: first birthdays and Saturday soccer games, high school graduation, their wedding day. So, just imagine being 95-years-old and meeting your great-grandchildren for the very first time, actually living long enough to see your baby's baby have a couple of babies of his own. Mind-blowing, right?

Over the holidays, while we were in NY, my babies met my husband's grandmother, and charmed her with their mischievous little smiles. They already spend several hours a week with their great-grandma here in LA, and here they were, in the arms of yet another great grandparent. Man, oh man, how lucky we are.

If baby bites, it can be very effective to calmly remove baby from the breast and say nothing (or perhaps make a calm comment like "Oh? Don't want to nurse right now?"), then end the nursing session for a bit.

That was the sort of advice I found online several years ago after my child bit me. I'd launched into a full-panic Internet search using terms like "BABY" + "HAS THE BITE FORCE OF A RABIES-INFESTED ROTTWEILER" + "WHAT IS INFANT RETURN & DEFECTIVE POLICY," and I'd hoped for something more useful. You know, like a scientific article assuring me I hadn't given birth to Damien from The Omen.

The thing was, he didn't bite me while he was nursing or anything like that. He hauled off and bit me because he was pissed off.