Wednesday, January 11, 2006
How's my singing?
I laughed when I saw the movie "Meet the Fockers." I swore I'd never become one of those parents. You know what I am talking about: the mom who reads up on sleep training (yes, "ferberizing"), and signs her infant up for classes like music and sign language.
Well, guess who's laughing now...
Yup, we Ferberized. Chloe was a bad sleeper. She started waking at night when she was about 3 months old, and by the time she was 6 months old, she was waking every hour all night long. Every night. This went on for weeks. Anyone who has walked in those shoes knows that you have to do something to fix the problem before someone (likely mom) goes flying out the second floor window. So, after the holidays, we moved her to her room, and let her cry. It killed me to listen to her. That night, she cried for 30 minutes, and I checked on her many times. Each night was easier, and within a week, we were all sleeping from 7p-7a.
I was so happy to be getting sleep that I decided we should get out more. So, I signed up for a music class. It's a gathering of mommies and babies who sing and dance for an hour. I was one step behind and severely off key the entire class. We sang songs with lyrics like da de da da su li chi. We danced in circles and pretended to be ponies. It was the kind of thing that would have made me run screaming the other way just a year ago. I even had to wear a "hello my name is" sticker, which Chloe proceed to suck on while it was on my shirt. The mixture of her drool and the sticky stuff resulted in a substance that would give liquid nails a run for its money. I walked around with a "hello my name is" sticker permanently attached to my sweater all afternoon. I hope it comes out in the wash. I like that sweater.
I felt like a goof at the music lesson. But Chloe loved it. She thrived on it. Her little arms were pumping and legs were kicking and she was smiling and laughing. I'll be the first one there next week proudly donning my dorky sticker just to see her smile like that again.
And the sign language? Well, we haven't started that. But we are scheduled for a class later this month.
So yeah, I am resigned to the fact that I am one of those parents. But at least I haven't gone totally off the deep end. I have not presented Martin with a supplemental feeding system (read: man boob). I think if I did, he'd have my head examined.
Well, guess who's laughing now...
Yup, we Ferberized. Chloe was a bad sleeper. She started waking at night when she was about 3 months old, and by the time she was 6 months old, she was waking every hour all night long. Every night. This went on for weeks. Anyone who has walked in those shoes knows that you have to do something to fix the problem before someone (likely mom) goes flying out the second floor window. So, after the holidays, we moved her to her room, and let her cry. It killed me to listen to her. That night, she cried for 30 minutes, and I checked on her many times. Each night was easier, and within a week, we were all sleeping from 7p-7a.
I was so happy to be getting sleep that I decided we should get out more. So, I signed up for a music class. It's a gathering of mommies and babies who sing and dance for an hour. I was one step behind and severely off key the entire class. We sang songs with lyrics like da de da da su li chi. We danced in circles and pretended to be ponies. It was the kind of thing that would have made me run screaming the other way just a year ago. I even had to wear a "hello my name is" sticker, which Chloe proceed to suck on while it was on my shirt. The mixture of her drool and the sticky stuff resulted in a substance that would give liquid nails a run for its money. I walked around with a "hello my name is" sticker permanently attached to my sweater all afternoon. I hope it comes out in the wash. I like that sweater.
I felt like a goof at the music lesson. But Chloe loved it. She thrived on it. Her little arms were pumping and legs were kicking and she was smiling and laughing. I'll be the first one there next week proudly donning my dorky sticker just to see her smile like that again.
And the sign language? Well, we haven't started that. But we are scheduled for a class later this month.
So yeah, I am resigned to the fact that I am one of those parents. But at least I haven't gone totally off the deep end. I have not presented Martin with a supplemental feeding system (read: man boob). I think if I did, he'd have my head examined.
