I completely disagree with No. 3, which is essentially tacit support for the anti-vaccination movement. My daughter has a congenital heart disorder that requires we hold off on all vaccinations for about 18 mos. It also lowers her immune system and makes her particularly suseptible to illnesses. Her life literally depends on "society at large" making the right decision about vaccinations - to get them! When people opt out, they endanger my daughter.

And the suggestion that critics of anti-vaccinators be confronted with the fact they aren't a pediatrician is laughable. The AAP has made it clear they endorse vaccinations. At most, a pediatrician will agree to space the vaccinations out, rather than giving the usual cocktail. You will be hard pressed to find a single pediatrician, who actually believes not vaccinating your child is a good decision.

The sticky situation is not for the parent, who buys into the vaccination hysteria a la Dr. Jenny McCarthy, but for the parents of children like mine, who have to worry at every turn that their child may contract a deadly illness from another child whose parents have abandoned the scientific method in favor of articles in Parade Magazine and, apparently, now on CNN as well.

I disagree with the advice of sugar coating why you won't allow your children to stay the night with parents that drink too much. This situation has occurred with my own daughter with a child that she is very good friends with. I simply voiced my concerns and said no. To my suprise, she agreed! And then revealed even deeper issues that I was unaware of. I was very glad to have stood firm.

The danger boy advice is silly. When I was growing up if there was some bad influence in the neighborhood, my parents didn't have time to pussyfoot around with the parents trying to spare their feelings, they just told me, "Don't play with that kid." If the kid was a bully they told me to fight back. That advice worked well.

Also I think people have different ideas on how to raise their kids. Some people don't want their kids to play war or cops and robbers like we did when we were growing up. I am fine with them having that rule for their kid, I have different rules for my kids and I don't think I am obligated to raise my kids their way.

I have to give my thanks to those moms who do go the extra mile and help others by watching their kids even if it is for longer than they expected. I hate to admit that I have sometimes had to be the mom that left my kids longer somewhere than I expected because my husband refuses to help me with anything pertaining to the kids. This is all under the guise of "helping me be a more self sufficient mother". Thanks to the helpful mothers for all that you do to help others. You have more of an impact than you know.

Honestly, I think too many parents accept advise on the subject of child raising from various "on line resources" when they really should rely more upon their own wisdom, judgment and instincts. Who would know better how to raise the child then the parents who bore them. Also, a "Danger boy" is not necessarily a bad attribute for a young boy as long as there is balance elsewhere. Society (and clueless parenting) is twisting adolescence into something much less than what it should be.

My brother-in-law has weekend visits with his 1 year old son. He seems to be "afraid" to be alone with his son, therefore he continues to show up on our doorstep every weekend at 10am under the guise of letting us visit with our nephew. Then my brother-in-law spends the afternoon talking on his cell phone or running errands. My husband is hesitant to mention how this irritates us, but I feel as if it is "his place" to say something rather than myself. What can I do??

Being around other parents can be a big drag. Everyone of course, has their own idea of what is right....amazing how that is, especially if you/your child is a stranger to them.
Most don't hesitate to give you "advice," or better yet..... that "look" if they think your child is doing something questionable.
I trust my instincts & could care less about the "advice" or the "look."

Most of the time I'm around other parents is when I'm at birthday parties or school functions. There is a small group of gossipy moms who always try to pull me in when they complain about the school or other parents. I smile, keep my mouth shut, and keep my eye on my 3-year-old. Because he's so active I can extricate myself easily and go chase after him...leaving the gossip behind.

My brother and I each have two children that are each 6 months apart in age, so I thought get togethers would be great. The problem is we are very different parents. I believe in rules, structures, and guidelines while my brother believes in letting the children figure this out for themselves and distracting rather than dealing with any discipline issues. When I try to say that these are just my rules, he'll say (in front of my sons) that I'm too tough, or educational TV is studpid go ahead and watch the show my son just informed him he cant', or that I can't expect my sons to do that when he won't make his daughter and son do that. It's gotten to the point that my husband won't come on visits with us anymore, so as not to argue and get upset in front of everyone, and I dread visits. I try to talk to my children before hand, to laugh things off, and to confront my brother in private...but none of it works. Now I just tell my sons that I worry about their behaviors and that they are in charge of themselves, not their cousins.

It's getting harder as they get older, but I don't want to deny them knowing their family, or to cause them to judge their uncle and cousins. I do my best to stay positive and keep visits short, we live over 3 hours from each other but we no longer sleep over or go away on trips with them. It seems to have the best effect when the visits are short because we stay until I can no longer stomach it and before my children start the "well she can do it, why can't I" that used to be inevitable.