Monday, October 31, 2011

Parenting and Learning

When you have more than one child, somethings you are able to do for the second time like clockwork, diapering, bathing, feeding (usually). But sometimes you have a big blank, like 'uh, what did we do for this last time?'.

As a nursing mother, pretty much when I put my baby to sleep it's after the last feeding of the night. Bath, pajamas, last feeding, and boom asleep they are. Ironically, in the book about sleeping that I have the 'Nightime Nursling' as they call it is the hardest child to teach to go to sleep on their own. Alas.

Last night I couldn't get that girl to sleep, she wasn't hungry, I knew she was tired, she was fussy, and I just didn't know what to do. So I just put her to bed.

Awake.

Not because I thought this would work, but I was just tired of holding her when it was obvious she didn't want me.

And lo and behold, she went right to sleep. After I thought about it, I underestimated her need to just.be.away.from.the.noise in our house. The TV, the crazy 3-year old, the people getting ready for work, the cats meowing for food.

And she didn't wake up again until this morning.

What a beautiful little girl I have.