Parenting…MACH DEUX, From the Cradle to the Day Bed
And it all came back like a clap of thunder. TRANSITION!!! From crib to bed, or day bed in this case.
I must admit that my wife and I had a pretty good night time routine going; wash hands, brush teeth, warm bath, and WOOSH!!! Crib ->Sleep. We managed to watch some movies,television, have conversations together, perhaps a little adult time...oh man!!! It was sweet. However, a few months ago we noticed our daughter had taken a liking to adult beds; our bed, her grandparents bed, friends beds, your bed. She would actually get under the covers, tuck herself in and say, "Good night." and let out a fake snoring sound.
Well, last week I figured that it was time to turn her crib into a day bed, as per the instruction manual that came with her crib. I went out and bought her a new Winnie the Pooh sheet thinking that this would be an easy endeavor. WRONG!!! The first night was a lie. The second night was a lie . Then she just stopped lying altogether and made it plain that she wanted to sleep in our bed exclusively. Here's a little recap:
First Night- My little peanut brittle sandwich face (todays pet name for my daughter) was pretty exhausted from the holidays (see last posting) and she passed out at 8:30pm and slept till 6:30am in her new bed. My wife and I celebrated, "Victory! Our kid is great! Is there anything that can stop her?Tomorrow we'll teach her how to make coffee for us." Alas, Lies! A fluke I say!
LATER NIGHTS- Each successive night was worse than the next. She would fall asleep in the living room, and I would carry her off to her bed, but she kept getting up and walking into our bedroom. Sometimes she would only be asleep in her room 1 hour and we'd hear a cockerspaniel-like whimper, "Daddy?". And into our bed she goes!
So now it's serious hardcore parenting time. Dinner, bathtime, storytime, bedtime,...get out of bedtime, beg time, put back to bedtime, more get out of bedtime, (An hour or so later) bedtime for Mom and Dad, followed by, exhaustion, family-bedtime, cat in the bed time, numbness of limb-time, etc...
Yup, I made a huge mistake. I found a small, bizzare, comfort zone for myself, and I forgot the number one rule of the parenting...the only constant in the universe is change.
Next blog teaser: Stay at home Dad, and 2 kids???
The Rod Serling Effect
Happy New Year everybody. My only resolution this year is to write more "blogs" or "articles" on my site. Did I mention raising a child is time consuming? I thought I would take a few moments to "clean house" on the year gone by with respect to my family life. But instead, I thought it might be more fun to reflect on the holiday week in general. I like to call it OUT OF SYNC WEEK. By this I am referring to my daughter, who has been time traveling in all sleep zones for the past 10 days. Whether it was Christmas eve with the in-laws, or a tiny social gathering among friends, or an 8 hour day with my family for a Christmas Day gift massacre, my kid is not right.
Submitted for your approval. A toddler we will simply call "Ms. T". And a robust gift giver by the name of Santa. Twelve days of holiday cheer that turned into 12 nights of satanic misery. What happens when the apple of your eye quickly turns into the applesauce down your pants. Let us journey now into the nether region of cartoon and nightly news. A place where the "binky" meets the eye. A state of undoing that no cup of coffee can correct. A place I like to refer to as...The Twilight Zone.
Could it be too much excitement? Too much attention? Too much pasta? Too much rock and roll? Yeah, it's probably all of the above. No doubt all parents experience this rift in time, the black hole in Toddler-dom, where nap time could be anytime. Where bowel movements are few and far between. Where outfit changes become obsolete (see Hugh Hefner). Where bedtime is anybody's guess, and location...well, that's dealers choice.
My mind is a little fuzzy from last nights lack of sleep, but I believe that this started Christmas eve at my sister in laws house. I noticed a strange phenomenon: Nudity. Not the regular nudity my daughter enjoys. Those passive few minutes between her street clothes and pajama time. I am talking about extended nudity. Nudity , unbridled and quite lively. It actually appears to be both liberating and refreshing, but after the first hour, a little extreme. This seemed okay in front of her immediate family but what about play dates? What about lunch in a fine eating establishment? What's worse, is the end game, the "lets chase you around with a diaper before you sit on furniture sans pants". She just loves that, but what she doesn't love is the end result...her with a diaper on and a face full of tears.
Onward and upward... diet!! A little spaghetti, kielbasa, chips, seltzer, chicken nuggets (I am becoming ill myself) does not a happy baby make. Sure, she's happy at the time, and no, Mommy and Daddy are not the main culprit ( that is a grandparents job), but this obviously disrupted more than her sleep. wink wink, You see she was not laying the golden egg, if you get my meaning. Not laying it for several days in fact. Ahh!! A fantastic ripple effect, no pooh, no sleep, no fun. could this week get any better? Why yes it can.
It was not enough that my daughter was now going to bed anywhere between 10:30pm and 11:30pm, in fact a few times after my wife and I had fallen asleep on the couch. Somewhere along the line she decided that the martial bedroom was the communal bedroom. Nearly every evening ended on the same note, "Mommy, Daddy, bed." And off to bed we all went. I don't know about you, but I (and my wife) never sleep soundly when my daughter is in bed. Therefore, the plan is to let her fall asleep and put her in her own bed as quickly as possible. (Before we both fall asleep) In addition, I enjoy reading before I go to sleep. A few pages to pass the time between reality and the craddle of dreams. And I must emphasize, I really really love to read before bed. It is my private escape. If I could hold book reading parties in my bedroom I would, that is how much I enjoy it. Sadly, my daughter does not enjoy her father's reading habits. There are many moves she has created to interrupt all sense of peace and harmony, but the "Lumberjack" or "High dive" as I call it, is the worst. The premise is this. I start to read, she stands straight up and proceeds to fall on top of me, much like a wrestler in a closed cage death match. Ouch!!! All clad in her pajamas for days on end, like a mad bachelor at the height of the Playboy Mansion. And on it goes...
It has all been a bit of struggle. We've only just started to set her straight. So as you can guess, I am glad that the travel, massive meals, and general late night horse play have come to a close this magical holiday season.
Maybe I watched too much Twilight Zone on New Years Day, but I doubt it. I feel like my wife and I have to start from zero with scheduling in order to rip our child from the clutches of alternate dimension of time and space. And if I learned anything from 2 years and 4months of child rearing it is this, SCHEDULING makes life easier.
VIVA 2010!!!!
The busy life of Stay at Home Dad
Damn...it has been quite awhile since I've written on my site. I went in with the intention of doing a weekly blog, but being a stay at home dad is not easy. My daughter is 2 years old now, and I feel I am just accepting the "new" boundaries that are my life.
I'm sure women must go through the same experience; "Your Time is no longer your time!!" But, it is a real adjustment. Physically and psychologically.