When I was at roller derby practice on Saturday, we learned a move where you use a teammate as an obstacle to stop the opposing team's scoring player. If you see the player coming your way, but she is too far away for you to stop her, you can push a teammate into her path, hopefully pushing her off of the track. As we learned this move, our coach mentioned that she was told, as a new player, that you have to allow yourself to be pushed. "Let me push you!" she was told.
If you resist your teammate's push, you will not be able to stop the opposing player, and you might even fall and get injured. By giving into the push,
you can accomplish your goals and keep yourself safe.
There are many times in my life when I have had to give into a push. Sometimes those pushes are scary and we don't see them coming. Sometimes we see them coming from a long ways away, but we resist the change and fight against it.
But I have learned that if I trust the one pushing me, I will allow the force to carry me into a better place. The push will change my course and allow me to accomplish things I never thought were possible.
When you feel a push coming your way, don't resist. "Let Me Push You!"
I don't have a baby anymore, but I recently noticed the "Cry It Out" method of getting your baby to sleep is under attack, again. With my first baby, almost 21 years ago, the method was then getting thrown around.
My oldest daughter refused to sleep, she just couldn't stand missing what was going on around her. By the time she was 9 months old, I was at the end of my rope. My husband was in the Navy and out to sea all the time, it fell to me to make the decisions and to figure out a way for the both of us to get some sleep. I tried everything and eventually settled on the "Cry it Out" method. The first night I put her to bed, and she cried for 45 minutes before she feel asleep. Listening to her cry was pure torture. I only made it because of a well-timed phone call from my husband. She only cried for 10 minutes the next night and after that she would go right to sleep. (I don't think this is typical results, it was pretty smooth for me.) However, it never really felt right. By the time my third child came along, I was prepared with many more tools in my "sleeping" toolbox. (Check out http://sleeplady.com/ she saved my sanity and taught me so much about a child's sleep patterns.) I felt more confident and also learned that each child is different. There isn't one "correct" answer.
There is one thing scarier than being a new mom, it's having a house full of teenagers. I'm still worried about when to leave my child all alone to "Cry it Out" and when to hover nearby to save him from himself. I still gather all the information I can from any source, hoping to make the "right" decision. I guess it's more appropriate to allow a 16-year-old to "Cry it Out," leaving him alone to make his own mistakes, but it's not easy. Maybe by the time my third teen is 16 I'll have it figured out. If you ever start a teenlady.com website, please let me know! My toolbox is running low.
When I was at roller derby practice on Saturday, we learned a move where you use a teammate as an obstacle to stop the opposing team's scoring player. If you see the player coming your way, but she is too far away for you to stop her, you can push a teammate into her path, hopefully pushing her off of the track. As we learned this move, our coach mentioned that she was told, as a new player, that you have to allow yourself to be pushed. "Let me push you!" she was told. 
