rule 1: there are no rules

I promise this could be so much easier. As far as I'm concerned, the world is pretty much black and white. Things are either one way or another. There is no room for gray. That being said, I love a rule. They are very comfortable to me. I am convinced that if there were a rule book for parenting, it would be a breeze. I know there are lots of suggestion books. And ultimately, I am striving to be a Godly parent more than anything - to love unconditionally and discipline in that love among other things. But, what I mean is a 'do this, don't do that,' 'this will lead to this,' 'a+b=c' kind of book. I need to know exactly what to do! I need to be able to enter what I am currently doing into a computer and have it tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it. I need RULES! I told Joey just the other day, this is just one big, life-long problem-solving puzzle. For real. Something happens, so you try one thing. If it works, you win! If it doesn't, you try something else. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's crazy! I ask lots of moms lots of questions and dang if every one of them gives me a different answer to the same question. When this is all said and done, maybe I'll write the rule book. If only one book would work for every child. Oh well.