reassurance

I live in a place where the parenting rules that I grew up with and count as normal are very liberal and 'on the edge', or in other words, bad. My child runs around without five layers of clothes on (not an exaggeration), I allow him to try to figure out things on his own, I don't go running immediately to the doctor if he starts coughing, he doesn't like to be held, he eats regular food and lots of it. All of these things will sound normal, or at least somewhat, to Americans, but here, they are definitely not main-stream. So when it comes to things like asking for some encouragement or advice, I am stuck and very alone. How long do I let this fever go on for? Is there a growth spurt at 19 months that I don't know about or is my child just demon-posessed? Is it normal that my son eats more food than me and is only 18 pounds? And, that is only the tip of the iceburg, my friends. But, this last week, I e-mailed our pediatrician, and was hugely blessed and reassured that I am not a bad mommy, the warped (sometimes, I truly think so!) place where we live isn't an example of the way things have to be done, and my child will live and grow up to be an awesome boy! Thank you so much, Dr. Marron, for encouragement through advice and assurance that I can do this! Now, back to potty training...