The New Bedtime

Well we have made it through one whole month! Both kids are doing well. Slowly we are getting into a workable routine. So far the biggest fight has been bedtime. For the most part Jake sleeps from 11-5 am (most nights) then he eats and sleeps until 8-8:30. Ashley on the other hand had decided to change up her routine. As luck would have it Jakes nighttime feeding is at the same time as Ashley’s bedtime. She is not a happy camper when I have to read her books before bed. She wants mom. Who can blame her? Mom knows all the words, I still have to sound a lot of them out. I am getting better.


Ever since she was a couple months old Ashley was a wonderful sleeper. She would take naps during the day and sleep all night without problems. Then Jake came along and ripped her little world apart. Naps are now hit and miss. Bedtime is an adventure. Ashley has decided she is not going to sleep in her crib anymore. My wife was trying to put her down for a nap when Ashley decided to jump out of her crib, Pro Wrestling style. My wife made a diving grab and luckily Ashley was not hurt. So that night we set up her big girl bed. Ashley seemed excited. All was going well until bedtime came.


At this point my beautiful two-year-old daughter transformed into something straight out of a horror film. I thought she was possessed. I was suddenly having visions of the movie The Exorcist. I was scared. I didn’t have any holy water handy. Her episode lasted about half an hour. When she finally calmed down I was able to determine what her problem was, she was afraid. She was afraid of the change. For some reason this really got to me. I know one of my roles, as a parent, is to protect my children. How do I protect her from this type of fear, the fear of change and the unknown? I came to the conclusion that I can’t. These are the types of fears that are apart of life. This is not something I can make go away. I can’t chase the scary monsters out from under her bed because this time there is no monster. I hated the fact that my little girl was scared and I could not just make it go away.

It was at this time when one of those “moments” happened. If you are a parent you will understand what I mean by “moments”. It was one of those times you, as a parent, will probably never forget. Ashley had calmed down by this point and was sitting on her big girl bed. She was still puffy and red from crying, holding her “woobie”. We were about half way through one of her books when she looked at me, put her little hand on my arm and said “Daddy sleep with me?” I don’t know why but those four words gave me a lump in my throat. Of course I didn’t tear up, I am a guy. The whole time we were reading books she was trying to solve her problem of being afraid. We finished reading books and I tucked her into her big girl bed for the first time. I laid down next to her on the floor. Within a few minutes she fell asleep. I think I nodded off too, being a parent is exhausting.


I know there will be more Exorcist moments at bedtime. I know there will be times when I am so frustrated with her that I have to leave the room, but on this night I was proud. Proud to be a father but mostly I was proud of my little girl. She faced her fear. She asked for help when she needed it and she made it through one of the many scary situations she will face. I hope my wife and I can give her the tools she will need to face things head on. I guess time will tell, but for now I think we are off to a good start. But just in case, we had a whole gallon of water blessed, it is now loaded in various squirt guns located around the house……

Life Flipped on its Head

I recently became a father again. Once again I am learning to do things all over again. When my daughter was born two years ago I had little to no "baby" experience. I had no idea how to change her diaper, or how to get clothes on her. Anyone with a newborn knows what I mean, its like trying to dress Gumby. I was afraid I would somehow break her. I was convinced I would drop her and leave her impaired for life. I'm sorry honey, I know you drool when you talk, daddy dropped you on your head when you were young. Please forgive me.


Over time these fears and shortcomings I had subsided. As she grew I became more comfortable being a father. Diaper changes no longer were an adventure and I could dress her all by myself. My wife even left her alone with me from time to time. I am still convinced she had a secret spy that kept an eye on me. All and all life was good, we had a routine and we were good at the routine. Life was good. So good in fact we thought we might as well have another child. The first one was still breathing so what the heck.


About this time I stopped working full time so we would have no need for daycare. My wife has an excellent job so this just made sense. So for the past six months I have been a house-husband, and not a very good one at that. Really? We have laundry to do? Didn't we just do that like two weeks ago? There is a new household rule: You wear it until it smells. If I can't smell it when I walk into the room, its wearable. My daughter has really taken to this new clothes policy, my wife on the other hand is resisting. She insists on wearing clean clothes, I will break her.


We were just getting into the swing of this new lifestyle when my son was born. This time I was not worried at all, I was a pro at this. Its amazing how much I have forgotten in two short years. The first time I went to put clothes on him I asked him to put his arm into the arm hole. He just looked at me like I was crazy. I finally got his little Gumby body into his clothes when he had what can only be described as a stink bomb go off in his diaper. So off with the clothes to change the diaper. Lets just say changing boys and changing girls are totally different tasks. In the two years of changing my daughter she had plenty of accidents with no diaper on. No big deal, since girls pee goes down her diaper would catch it. Get a clean diaper and move on. All was going well, the old diaper was off of my son, the smell was gone, his butt was clean. Time to put on the new diaper. Next thing I know pee is shooting everywhere. All over his clothes, all over his blankets, everywhere. My first reaction was to save myself and take cover. Every man, woman, and child for themselves. Luckily the attack didn't last long. I looked at my wife and asked for help. She told me no, you need to learn to be quicker and left the room. Yes dear. By the way, your clothes smell clean, you can wear that again.

I am happy to report that both my son and my daughter are still breathing. I have not broke them as of yet. I am getting used to Gumby once again and my record times for diaper changing is broken almost daily. If I get the right offer I might just turn pro, but for now I am keeping my amature status. My daughter defiantly has her moments. The terrible twos are terrible for a reason. Will she ever stop talking?? My son is only a few weeks old and for the most part he is sleeping or eating. There is plenty of chaos going on here at home throughout the day. There are times when I feel like my life is all about the next feeding or diaper change. Then my daughter will come up and give me a hug and kiss for no apparent reason and it is all worth it. Off to do laundry, I have been out of underwear for two days.