Sometimes it’s hard to be such a little one
Posted on August 25, 2006 - Filed Under Uncategorized
Right now, as I write this, I am doing the hardest thing I have had to do as a father. We have decided to move Maggie over to sleeping in her own bed, her PlayYard for now because she won’t be sleeping in her crib until we get to ID. After five months of sleeping us with us and breastfeeding pretty much whenever she wanted, it’s understandable why she might be a little upset. But, boy, she is not taking to this very well. We started last night; she cried and crawled around for two hours. Erin and I got to sleep somewhere around 11:30 or midnight. Maggie then woke Erin up twice during the night. The good news concerning all of this is that, according to Erin’s reports, she was not tired all day today (because of not having little baby feet kicking her constantly throughout the night) and Maggie was pretty happy-go-lucky all day. I was very glad to hear both of these but especially the latter. I was very afraid that Maggie would feel abandoned but, hopefully, her disposition today indicates otherwise.
Sitting there last night, keeping vigil with Erin laying in bed, me sitting in the rocking chair, and Maggie between us, it was incredibly hard to not just reach down and scoop the crying child up. I mean, when your child is crying, especially as hard as she was, a parent’s instinct (as in hard-wired into the brain) is to respond. And it was obvious she was in great distress; she’s ‘crawling’ pretty well now, so she was doing laps around the inside of her bed while screaming and trying to lift herself up so she could climb out. This went on for two solid hours before she finally gave up. Tonight, however, seems to going a whole lot better. She just quieted down after only about a half hour of crying. Right now, we’re only trying to break her of sleeping with us; breastfeeding upon waking will come next. Oh, what fun.
I do have to admit, and I’m sure Erin feels the same way, some selfish part of me doesn’t want to move her out of our bed. It feels like we’re closer as a family when we all sleep together. And anthropologically I have to wonder what the undeveloped peoples of the world do. I know most of them do not have a separate room of the house where they sequester their children. Our material wealth has allowed us this indulgence. I wonder if there isn’t some connection between this physical distance and the mindset of our youth.
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4 Responses to “Sometimes it’s hard to be such a little one”
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1.The pre-civil war slaves had one room with a dirt floor for togetherness.
2.The people who live in the inner-city also have closeness, also the highest crime and drug-related occurances.
3. Parts ofthe south are known for closeness and poverty.
4. I taught for nearly 30 years in both poverty based neighborhoods and middle and upper class. The children who came from stable homes had the parents who were most involved. Children who came from apartments and economic struggle had the lowest self-esteem ,lack of goals, least educational experiences and parents who were the least involved. I am a certified ESP counselor and I took seven children once a week for three months to give thes self-motivation and a place to deal wth their struggles.
I know you will look for statistics to refute my writing. Personal experience and not percentages are more reliable.
I certainly do not want to see this country go a lover standard of living, there are many problems but it takes people with knowledge and some type of economic stableness to volunteer and raise those who so desparately need.
wow that is wonderful but i know it was hard to hear her crying but it will get better as time moves on i remember when you and jessica were babies and i stood over your cribs and patted your little bums untill you fell asleep i can still see myself doing it even though you are all grown up now but i will always have those memories in my heart i love you
I know that this too will pass, as you say. I even caught myself thinking today that the last five months have not been that hard…why is that we always think something wasn’t that hard when time has put some distance between then and now? Anyhow, we tried the patting of the butt thing…doesn’t work for us. It’s kind of weird to read your comment and to think of myself doing what Maggie’s doing.
i am sorry it didnot work for you sometimes it didnot work for me either i was more or less remembering when you were a little one i guess it will take time patience and whole lot of love which i know you both have for maggie i love her so much thank you for giving us such a wonderful little joy i know sometimes it will be hard but the happiness that she will bring to the both of you will compensate for those times every day is a new experience to treasure hugs and kisses to maggiefrom pappy and grandma