Things a Mommy Needs

Don’t get me wrong, I love my children.  They are the most amazing people I have ever met in my life.  I adore their cute little smiling faces and all of their antics all day long.  That being said, come 7 pm I don’t want to see them anymore.  I work hard to get them fed, bathed, read to, tucked in and sung to so that I can have some of that precious, and oh so elusive, ADULT TIME.  You know…adult time.  The time when you can watch a program on TV that doesn’t have any cartoon animals singing about sharing, friends, or the importance of good oral hygiene.  The time when you can actually pee without an audience.  The time when you can fold the towels, and fold them only once before putting them away.  The time when you can do anything without someone else touching you or “helping” you in any way.  Ahhh, I love adult time.

The other thing I love is sleep. I covet sleep in the way only a truly sleep deprived person can.  My mattress and I have not had nearly enough quality time together in the past 4 years, and it saddens me.  So I’m sure you will understand when I say that I’m not a huge fan of those middle of the night wake ups.  Well, to be fair, I have been known to enjoy some of those 3 am feedings with a brand new baby.  Being the only two awake in a quiet house gives you some quality time that only a Mommy can completely understand.  But as I said, I love sleep, so even the wonder of perfect baby toes and the miracle of life begins to become somewhat less awe inspiring as I continue to be dragged from my bed , for months on end, during the wee hours of the morning.

With my first child, I was clueless.  Exhausted and very, very clueless.  She was 9 months old and still waking up 2 or three times a night.  My pediatrician assured me that she had no physiological need to eat during the night, she had just become ”accustomed” to it.  Well great!  How am I supposed to to go about making her become less accustomed to needing me to nursing her to back to sleep multiple times a night?  Everyone seemed to have advice for me.  “Give her a bottle of water instead of a boob, she won’t like it as much”…”Feed her cereal before bed, she will be full for longer”…”She’s just a baby, she must still need you at night”.  Thank you everyone, but none of this was helping me.  Then I found Dr. Ferber’s Book Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems.  I’m not afraid to say that I could kiss the man!

I love this book!

Now I know better.  My sons didn’t have the luxury of middle of the night snacks for nearly as long as my daughter.  Thomas was probably 6 months old before he got the treatment.  Sweet little Allen turned four months old three days ago and he has already been trained.