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" This is my last &amp;quot;Momfidence&amp;quot; post here on the Daily WD, on the heels of the last of my nine years of &amp;quot;Momfidence&amp;quot;/&amp;quot;The Mom Next Door&amp;quot; columns \u2013 125 altogether \u2013 in Woman&amp;#039;s Day magazine. When I started &amp;quot;Momfidence&amp;quot; (first pic below, 2001), not one of my four kids was taller than me. The sum of their electronics: one handheld Game Boy and a set of talking Teletubbies. Now (second pic, 2009), three are teens, they want gadgets instead of toys \u2013 and, something I haven&amp;#039;t written much about, I&amp;#039;m about to be divorced and move, too. Maybe the only constant over the years has been never running out of things to say! Thought I&amp;#039;d bow out with a recap of 5 of the best things I learned, over the years:   Dr. Spock nailed it. Spock (no, not the Star Trek guy, the late baby doc) isn&amp;#039;t so much of a household word in 2010, but if he didn&amp;#039;t raise you, he raised your mama, and he said it best in the first lines of his classic child care manual: Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do. Winging it \u2013- my preferred approach to all things parenting \u2014 is less stressful and more fun than worrying about the &amp;quot;best&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;right&amp;quot; way. And as far as I can tell, the kids wind up just as swell.  No mom is an island. From the kindly stranger who climbed up a McDonald&amp;#039;s fun house to retrieve my bawling toddler when I was pregnant with #2, to the sweet reader who emailed just this morning that she missed my column and was it ending because my tweens and teens were now too private (no), one of the nicest parts about writing &amp;quot;Momfidence&amp;quot; has been the mamaraderie \u2014 connecting with other mothers. Fellow contrarians, critics, farflung new friends, and all.  Kids are durable. I savored this description like a chocolate drop as a new mom. (A nonchalant veteran mom clued me in.) Yes, they&amp;#039;re tender and deserve to be handled with care \u2013 but they&amp;#039;re also tougher and more resilient than we give them credit for. Think delightful weeds, not hothouse blooms.   Reach for (and say hooray for) that which makes momming easier: The hygiene hypothesis (kids need dirt!), Velcro, Nick Jr., microwaves, car cup holders, patient preschool teachers, cellphones, washable markers\u2026. And of course chocolate and Pinot (for us \u2013 because if mama ain&amp;#039;t happy\u2026)Above all, give &amp;#039;em three little words: Love and limits. Get those things right (by doling out both in generous and roughly similar portions), and then relax and enjoy. Time flies while you&amp;#039;re having kids. And when you&amp;#039;re writing about &amp;#039;em. \u2013 Paula Spencer, author of Momfidence and several collaborations, helps sandwiched generation moms (and others) manage eldercare and self-care at Caring.com.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a42663/5-parting-thoughts-on-momfidence-besides-goodbye-3090/>