TriangleMom2Mom, the N&O's new parenting blog, offers myriad takes on the challenges and joys of parenthood. One comes from blogger Beth McNichol, a freelance writer, former magazine editor and a past media relations director for UNC athletics, whose new blog posts appear on Tuesdays. Here's an excerpt of a recent post:

"When MJ was 16 months old, I read a book that outlined the path to raising confident girls, from toddlerhood to teenhood. I loved it. I told myself: That's it. That's what I'm going to do. Everything this book says. I'm there. No Barbies? Check. No princesses? Check. No dollhouses? Check. Trucks and cars that go beep-beep, not dollies that go wah-wah. Kitchen sets? No way. Chemistry sets? Yes.

I wanted to be certain that my girl(s) told society that any pre-existing ideas it had in mind for them about how they should act, what they should like and where they ended up in life could be shoved into a box and marked "wrong address."

Boy, was I ever wrong...

We take classes on how to have a baby; there is no class on how to raise one. That course begins organically, years from the time when a little girl (or boy) might have her (or his) own child. It happens in MJ's mind as she pretends to wash her baby sister's bottles; in her mind as she "bakes" plastic cookies for me; in her mind when she helps me fold laundry ... just before she runs off to dance freely in circles or go in search of pretend dinosaurs.

She is practicing love. Chemistry. Leadership. Life. She is learning to be the CEO of what makes society tick. In her mind, and in her heart, when she sees me comfort Little L, she is learning to be a human being. Who am I to tell her that dollhouses, or kitchen sets, or baby dolls, are not as important as a magnifying glass?

Well, I'm her mother. And that's exactly why I won't."

Find the complete post at www.trianglemom2mom.com.