Put Some Love on It

Ok, being a "stay-at-home-dad" has been. . . a learning experience. But I think the biggest lesson of all is that whatever is going wrong in child-rearing usually stems from not enough love -- never not enough impatience. Yet we seem to respond with MORE impatience and frustration and LESS love.

Eliza has been going to bed screaming with panic-stricken horror every night since we got back from South Carolina. In South Carolina, the only way we could get her to sleep was to sleep next to her or at least in the same room. She would occasionally lift her head up to make sure we were still there. Once assured we were, she would fall asleep.

Now that we're back, she HATES that we won't sleep in the same room with her. Night after night of her endless screaming in bed had been wearing on us to the point where I would literally carry her kicking and screaming, plop her in her bed with the bottle and walk out of the room. UHHHHH. Hey now! What she was missing was the calm assurance that we were there and would always be there for her. She was missing the quiet peace of falling asleep with mommy and daddy's love permeating the room. And ultimately my response was to withdraw every bit of it that I could. DUMB.

Tonight, I stayed with her and dumped love into the situation. I lovingly explained with love how she should lovingly go to sleep without any loving screaming. I gave her some loving hugs and kisses and told her about how the loving princesses on her pillow (Disney pillow) needed some love-sleep. And then I backed lovingly out of the room blowing her loving kisses. (You feel the love. . . don't you.)

She fell RIGHT asleep.

So to remind me to stamp every moment with MORE (not less) love, I made this:

When her security blanket is being washed. . .

 Wait with her until it's done drying.                          

OR

  If she wants to go to the beach and you're tired. . . .

Go anyway.

AND

When a face like this is asking for something

you know she just shouldn't have. . . .

Cover it with love.

(And then it's not hard to say no.)