Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Third Time's A Charm

Today my baby boy is taking his first field trip without me or his dad tagging along. He was super excited which is more that I can say for myself. Since I found out my hubby wasn't "selected" to be a chaperone, I've imagined all of the things that could go wrong while he's gone. I was convinced that he should just miss the class trip and we'd plan to go as a family (something we've done a few other times). Then it dawned on me, my feelings about the field trip were just like MC's feelings about sleeping alone in his new room. Every night for weeks he was terrified to sleep alone. We put a makeshift lock on his closet, because he was afraid a bad guy would come out while he was sleeping. We put night lights in all of his outlets. We even had his brother sleep in the adjoining bunk until he was asleep, before returning to his own room. Finally, I had enough. I insisted that he go cold turkey. He was still very apprehensive, but eventually he was okay. Today I'm going cold turkey. As I type, he's boarding the big yellow bus and headed off for an adventure. I can't wait to hear all about it.

Just as I anticipated, Baby A has changed my perspective. As a new mom, I quickly changed JB's clothes when he spit up. I walked him when he was cranky, rocked him to sleep. I carried a fully stocked duffle diaper bag every time we left the house. This time around, we wipe away spit up and definitely don't change clothes each time. Crankiness is entertained by the swing, as long as she's fed and clean. She's even learned to go to sleep without help. My revelations may seem like "no brainers", but it took me three times to lower my expectations and standards. I still get frustrated and overwhelmed at times, but when I look at my big boys I recognize the phases and stages that we've already been through. I survived that; surely I'll have the same grace for what's to come.

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