After re-reading my first few posts I started thinking that I may not be making this whole dad thing sound so cool although everything I said has been true. Babies do make scheduling things difficult and they don’t care that the hockey game is on when they don’t want to sleep. They cry when they are upset, tired, annoyed, and sometimes when they seem to be happy. Babies also don’t like to sleep for very long periods of time during the early months so when I tell you that you are not going to get much sleep early on…. well, it’s true. All of that truth can lead parenting to be the most frustrating and humbling experience in your life. In a society built on winning it hurts when a baby has more determination to stay awake then you do to put him to sleep. When both parents throw up their hands and put a bottle in his mouth… it’s tough… it’s demoralizing… but what I haven’t talked about yet is those brief moments that make all the work, the lack of sleep, and the frustration worth it. It starts with a smile…
The Smile
At the beginning your child seems to only have two modes. Sleep or cry. And they will switch through this quite frequently. Every now and then you’ll get a smile though which is mostly from them passing gas but it still will make your day. As they get older and begin recognizing you… nothing is better than coming home from work to see their eyes light up and their smile beaming up at you.
The Snuggle
When your dance moves, bouncing, and rocking lead to a quiet, sleepy baby. Early on, I would leave Mats on my chest when I was able to get him to sleep mostly because I was scared that he may decide to wake up if I so much as thought of moving. When your son or daughter is content to lay their head against you or sleep in your arms for a nice snuggling session you’ll forget all the time it took for them to calm down.
The Laugh
My personal favorite and I love it so much I try anything to get my son to do it. He could spit up on me 20 times in an hour, have a massive diaper blow out, squeal and scream all he wanted, and as long as I could make him laugh afterwards… all is forgiven. I mean come on… you try to stay mad at this kid!
See… it really is completely worth it and it’s only going to get better as my kid gets older.
Lauren Teague 