Zachary is now 5 months old. He is a wonderfully, smiley, little baby. But, he still demands all of my attention from the minute I get home to the minute I leave for work again. But how can I get frustrated when he smiles at me like that?
Dylan is such a big boy. He loves his little brother and is a very good big brother to him. However, Dylan has learned from Zachary, that the only way to get any Mommy time, he has to cry for it. So, when Zach is monopolizing Mommy's time, Dylan will cry. At which point Mommy hands Zach to Daddy and Dylan gets Mommy for about 5 minutes until Zach realizes he's been had.
So this morning Dylan wakes up mere minutes before my alarm goes off (5.27am) crying for me. He has had a bad dream. So I tuck him into bed with Daddy & Zach and head off for the shower. After my morning bathroom ritual, I sneak downstairs (well aware that Dylan is still awake) for a quiet cup of coffee. It is now 5.50am. I barely get a coffee cup down when I hear two crying baby's. Upstairs I head because I know Joel doesn't do well being woken up like this.
So much for my quiet cup of coffee by myself. Both kids are up and now that I've been spotted, both are vying for Mommy Time.
I think Joel has become used to not getting any Mommy Time. He's adapted well. I however, have not. I know that as they get older, the kids will want nothing to do with us and I will have all the time in the world to be by myself. But will I live to see it? Right now I'm sitting at my desk with my head pounding because I can't remember the last time I had any down time.
1 comment:
Oh, Tricia, :( -- that such a sad mental picture of you at your desk, exhausted with a pounding headache. I worked with autistic kids for ~9 years & I know a little bit about behavior modification, positive reinforcement, etc. I realize this is totally unsolicited advice -- feel free to ignore me, really :), but I couldn't help myself with that mental picture. Every time you go to them when they cry, you reinforce the crying. We could talk about other options when I'm home if you wanted to -- in the meantime, to break the habit, try and set aside "mommy time" (moreso for Dylan as Zach is just a baby) - uninterrupted, full on Mommy attention -- it could even be a couple different, but specifically devoted times btwn work and bedtime. But then that's it -- mommy has mommy things that need to get done too (like sometimes just stare at a wall). Ultimately though, he's going to have to cry it out a few times -- "extinction burst." Crying does not = mommy. You know?
Just a suggestion -- from a single woman with no kids. ;)
Post a Comment