Someone sent me the above image (source link here) last week – and at first I was going to blog about it, but then didn’t really have much to say about it.
Then I stayed home with Caleb on Monday. Mondays are my day off, and the day that I’m responsible for Caleb so Sarah can get some work done and get a baby break. Essentially, it’s my day to experience what Sarah gets to experience for most of the rest of the week.
The past couple Mondays that I’ve had Caleb have been anomalies. One week he was pretty happy – didn’t cry much – and that was pretty cool. Another week he slept for 3 hours in the morning, and then slept the entire afternoon. That was it. He just slept. I didn’t have to do anything. So…let’s just say she was pretty excited when this past Monday, he was an incredible pain in the ass. I think that’s okay to say about my son…I mean, I love him and I think y’all get it.
So when I saw this pie chart, I knew I had to share it with you. Those of you who are parents, I’m sure that you can relate. Now, they’re not always 49% incredible pains in our asses…but, you get the idea. Sometimes, it sucks. When you’re tired, and your baby isn’t sleeping well, and is crying, and won’t stop crying, and you’ve tried to put them down in the crib, the swing, the bouncing chair (the one with batteries that makes it vibrate), the old-school bouncing chair (the one without batteries – and you have to use your foot to bounce it), the Nap Nanny (which you bought because you heard enough people say “OMG – this was the most amazing thing we got for our baby – they slept SO WELL in it!”), the Baby Björn, your arms, the play mat…and then you try them all again…
Yah. It can suck.
But then…maybe you give up trying to get him to go to sleep, and you get down on the floor with him, tickle him a little bit, and then….BAM! There it is – a SMILE! Or a coo! Or a goofy little bubble they blow with their drool or saliva and you think, “Holy cow! You are the most amazing thing in the entire world – you’re like the most sublime joy I’ve ever felt!” And you instantly forget about the 49% of the time when he or she is a royal pain.
Babies are sneaky like that.
And thank goodness! It would be a much longer road if we didn’t get those glimpses into the sublime joy and pure awesomeness that babies are…
Bet says
I truly believe that those little moments of unexpected sublime joy are an evolutionary feature to keep us from abandoning babies on the savannah when they are a PITA.
Lisa says
Yes, yes, yes! Our son is 6 weeks old, and I can sooooo relate to this.
Adam says
Thanks for the note. How did you find my blog?