Observation

[whimoffate]

I find myself wondering, as I am raining down kisses on my squealing baby's cheekies, if my mother ever just enjoyed being a mother. I know that she was a responsible caregiver when I was a wee thing, but I have such a hard time visualizing her just laying on the floor laughing with me or my brother

Comments

[daylight_spool]

It was weird cause I was talking to my mom the other day about child rearing cause I don't want no part in that. She was all, 'I could have broken your spirit when you were a baby, but I chose to let you misbehave so you'd be a stronger person now'

I mean, I'm glad for it. My mom & I had a rough time when I was a teenager, but I'd much rather be who I am than...I dunno, someone weaker

[whimoffate]

The whole thing about breaking your spirit is what scares me the most....As parents we have so much control over how our child ends up and that is HUGE. My mom was totally the type to make me in to who she wanted me to be and it took years before I could tell the difference. And I don't want to do that with Mazzy. I want to have faith that she will be strong and capable of following through with stuff because she just isn't broken.

[tonapah]

How are you getting Mazzy to sleep on her own? Once in a while Catherine will sleep without nursing and snuggling, but that only seems to happen when she's really, really tired and probably hasn't happened more than 10 times so far in her life.

I like singing silly songs, too. I make up things to the tune of the Gummi Bears song, with "Caturdaaaaaay" where they sing "Gummi Bearrrrs."

[whimoffate]

Ha! I llllooove the Caturday song!

As for Mazzy sleeping on her own, well, it is a combonation of her mobile playing music, a pacifier and a very light blanket for her to snuggle with instead of Mommy. It is taking about half an hour to forty-five minutes to get her to fall asleep, but I recognize that it will (hopefully) mean less work when she is older. I have also discovered, for Mazzy, it is better to put her down when she starts rubbing her eyes, but before she starts sleepy-fussing (which is when I used to rock her to sleep). She is more likely to chill out until she passes out if she isn't SO sleepy.

Of course, there are times when it just won't work and I have to give in and snuggle her until she sleeps so that I am sane. Ha.

[dreamingkat]

Worrying about these things is part of being a good parent. :)

I think you will be able to balance giving her independence with giving her the ... strength(?) ... of knowing she is loved unconditionally and has an ally when she fights the good fight.

My mother's mistake was letting me know she loved me so unconditionally that for a while when I was a teenager I thought that it couldn't be worth anything.

[whimoffate]

Thank you. I have tried responding with more words, but 'thank you' seems to be the ones that make the most sense.