Warning: this is another post in which I whine about parenting.
Oh my Gaaaaaawwwwd the injustice.
So I've heard that the "science" of parenting is to be consistent and receive results. I'm sorry, but I have to call BS.
Something amazing happened last week. I decided not to blog it because of the jinx factor. Everybody knows that second you tell people that your baby is finally sleeping through the night is the second your baby stops that cute little trend. Anyway, I took Kelan to daycare for the first time in three or four months. I expected resistance. I expected screaming and kicking. I expected the annoyed looks on the teachers' faces as they pried him off of my legs. I did not expect him to casually walk in and say "Hi" to people, wave goodbye to me, and walk away- but that's what happened.
That experience totally made my day. I may have been on the treadmill running, but in my head I was thinking of all the part-time job hunting I should do, all of the last minute errands I could run, the coffee dates I could enjoy while he had fun socializing with kids his age. Oh the freedom of having a child that is open to drop-in daycare!
Five short days later- I'm on the treadmill running... but this time I'm closing my eyes and running far, far away from the screaming- and the fear that my toddler has some sort of crazy attachment disorder that will cripple him for life. If you happened to be at the downtown Y today, you might have seen me. I was the disheveled chick carrying the screaming kid and trying not to drop the backpack or, god forbid, the matchbox-sized airplanes that he "had" to bring with him. I looked a hot mess.
So, In conclusion, there might be some rhyme or reason to all of this consistency stuff, but in my humble opinion, it's touch and go- on the best days. And the "science" of parenting is to always be consistent, and don't ever, ever, expect it back. That way you'll be happy when you get it... in about 20 years.
2 comments:
Oh, man! Well let's hope it goes really well next week when we bring the boys together ...
By the way, I can't tell you how much time I've spent worrying that Paul has "some kind of attachment disorder" too.
Oh Emily, welcome to my world. Jess can tell you that I cannot even pee by myself.
I think my record at gym day care is 4.5 minutes on the elliptical. There have also been the 3 times when I don't even make it out of the locker room before they come to get me. After they were good the first time I brought him to day care, I foolishly bought a pack of 10 day care stays. Because of that, I have tried 5 or 6 times since then to leave them there.
Don't even bother anymore because I get so stressed about it and the people at day care practically roll their eyes when I walk in with mama's boy no 1 and 2.
Hope it's just a phase for you!
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