The other day, Siobhan was having a rough day. I think those top teeth are trying make their way in, and she was just cranky.
I tried the usual distractions; I let her pull out all of the toys from her toy box, I gave her a bath (that usually calms her), I even gave her a cookie. The poor kid was inconsolable.
So, I started thinking, what would make me happy if I were really cranky? Then it came to me; I gave her these:
Nothing makes a girl happier than a new pair of shoes.
First she enjoyed opening the box, taking them out and playing with the tissue, and then I put them on her and she held my hand and walked around in them... happy as a lark.
I don’t suppose there are a lot of women who can say they have given birth to both a brown baby and a white baby. I would like to share with you the differences between them.
There are none.
Well, I suppose there are the usual differences that you would find between any babies. You know, one likes avocados, the other doesn’t, curly hair vs straight hair etc.
There are no race related differences.
Actually, while there are no race related differences in the babies, there are certainly differences in how other people react and treat them.
No-one ever asks if my white baby is mine.
Should you spend time with either of my girls, you will find that they each have a delightful giggle, their smiles can light up any room, and they enjoy being the centre of attention, pretty average stuff for any kid.
If you are wondering the point of this post, it is to tell you that the colour of someone’s skin does not determine who they are, it only determines how you might treat them.
Last Friday, Rebecca and I packed up the van and headed to Ottawa for YMCWinterlude. I was very excited to go because A) Rebecca and I were having our first mommy/daughter weekend together
B) I was going to see my sister and her family C) I was going to see all the yummies mummies around and D) I was going to get some sleep!
I may have been most excited about D.
You see, Siobhan has been very restless lately and since we have been sharing a bed, I haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep. She is also crawling now, so I often wake up panicked thinking she is going to crawl off the bed (this may have happened once, but I’m not admitting it to anyone).
So, I figured while I was away, I would catch up on my sleep. Who knew sleeping with my five year-old would result in an even worse sleep?? The kid can take up an entire queen size bed! AND she was wrapping herself around me like a python going for the kill.
Needless to say, I was no better rested after sleeping with her.
On my last day there, I was discussing with my sister how I needed to sleep train Siobhan in the crib again, and how I wasn’t looking forward to it. I have never had to do this. Rebecca rarely slept in her crib.
I am also someone who snuggles with her babies to get them to sleep, so I was unsure how I was going to get her to sleep without the snuggling, but I knew it needed to be done in order to save my sanity. I vowed that sleep training would happen when I returned home... and I was dreading it.
Sunday night, I returned home in the early evening and Siobhan was still awake... and excited to see me!!
Tom and I basically exchanged a hug and a kiss before he was out the door to go pick up Ethan and Eleanor from their mom’s, and as he was about to leave, he said “Oh Siobhan has been sleeping in her crib”
I looked at him in amazement. “How did you do that?” He said “I put her in the crib with her soother and I walk away. She cried for a minute and then went to sleep”. I asked a few more questions in complete wonder and with slight disbelief. Then he was gone.
So, bed time rolled around and I walked upstairs with Siobhan. I put her in her crib, stuck the soother in her mouth, she cried for maybe 10 seconds and then I walked away.... waiting... listening... anticipating... nothing.
She went to sleep.
Today, at nap time, I once again put her in her crib and walked away. You know what she did? She slept!!
Guess I don’t need to worry about that sleep training. Maybe I’ll go away again next weekend and see if Tom can potty train her.
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