Middle Path Parenting

For some reason or another I have happened upon many articles and blogs recently regarding attachment parenting and the other kinds of beliefs usually associated with this kind of philosphy.  Having learned a little bit about Buddhism and finding it to apply to  many aspects of my life I have decided to start a new movement called The Middle Path Parenting, henceforth referred to as MPP.  When Siddhartha was growing up he had all that he wanted and partook in everything he desired.  As he left his kingdom to find answers to some questions ( I know I am paraphrasing the story of the Buddha very poorly) he chooses to become an ascetic monk, denying any and all earthly pleasures.  He realized in the end that neither way was good and founded a middle path - one which realized too much was too much and too little was too little basically.  Okay, so maybe I'm not an expert of Buddhism but that is how I quickly interpreted the story and boxed it up in my brain to inform some of my actions.  What does this mean for my parenting?  Well it means I breastfeed for probably as long as my baby wants (although I do have an age I think is personally too old), I cloth diaper during the day and use disposables at night, I have let my children cry it out sometimes because it has honestly been my best option at times, I don't serve all organic to my children because it is not financially possible but I choose the foods the "experts" say are most important to eat organic, I use time-outs and natural consequences, I do not co-sleep but have the baby's bed in our room (only because we have no other bedrooms!), I do let my 2 yr old still have a paci at nighttime and sometimes she eats a kids meal from a fast food restaurant.  I vaccinate but still choose to get second opinions for some things my pediatrician says.  This is just me.  Some things put me in the ballpark of attachment parenting whereas others put me more along with the "mainstream" (whatever that means.)  I know not every MPP will parent this way but the common thread will be that they do not adhere so strictly to a set of guidelines or parent out of guilt.  They'll do what works for them and what doesn't work--well sometimes they'll still do it because it is still the best or only option at the moment and hey, let's admit that the majority of us probably do as best as we can given the circumstances we are facing.  Whenever I feel guilty about not being a good enough mother I think about Einsten, the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, Marthin Luther King Jr. and all the other greats out there and I am 100% sure their mothers all parented differently (I'm almost just as sure that most were probably not followers of attachment parenting...)  They all did the best they could.  That is what mattered.  Your best may be wearing your baby all day. Well, mine is popping in an Elmo DVD for my 2 yr old and letting my infant play under the playmat for several minutes while I get some me time.