I stand up holding him in a rocking position in my arms. But he's least interested in staying still, let alone going to sleep. I give him a little swing and a little toss to make him relax in my arms. Then, slowly rock him while singing all kinds of non-sense(again). We're already in the bedroom with the A/C on, so there's no chance of him sweating. (I always end up freezing, but that's a
different thing.) I keep rocking him in my arms until he starts to doze... I can start to feel the pain in my arms. The pain you feel before the start of cramps. But, I dare not put him down. He's barely started to doze. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes before he's fully asleep. But I dare not put him down immediately for he might wake up. I know I might get cramp in one of my arm any minute, but still I continue to rock him. At this point, the feeling is jus too good. You feel some one in a Military uniform jus pinned a "World's greatest Dad" badge on your chest!! I rock him until the last second before I know I have the cramp on my left arm. I very slowly move onto the bed. (We have a floor bed, so that he won't fall off). I adjust the pillows for him with my feet. Very slowly and delicately I go down on my knees and even more delicately put him down. My right arm is stuck under his neck.
Before I can think of a way to remove my arm, he rolls over, moving his legs up and down, opens his eyes, within a fraction of a second he's up and sitting on the bed giving me fresh look as thought he jus came back from the gym. I try to force him to lie down, and he gives the same noise from the bottom of his throat. I crash at the spot where he was supposed to sleep while I see him stand up holding a nearby table and trying to reach for the mouse of my laptop. The only thing that runs through my mind when I desperately try not to sleep is that - Can there be a much worse dad than me??
3 comments:
No way. Not when your son is this happy. :-)
Arya you are way too smart.
I have read somewhere that its better to let kids put them to sleep themselves (since they have to do it eventually) instead of parents making a habit of doing so esp. with specific things like rocking, singing etc....fosters independence apparently ! That way, you are going down the right road :D!
On a different note, its never possible to be a great dad or a great mom because trying too hard makes you exhausted and eventually you will succumb to pressure and do worse than usual. So moderation is better i.e. being a good dad or mom and you will be surprised to see how kids perceive the good as great :) ! I know, romba pesiten rather ezhuditen!
Sowmya, what you say is true. Except for his eating habits, most of the time we do not plan anything for his schedule. For his sleeping habits too, usually he dozes off while having his milk. But sometimes, like the night I wrote about, both Bhavani and I were pretty exhausted but Arya was hyperactive at 2am. Eventally he slept at 3am. At times like these, we are left with no choice but to force him to sleep, so that we can catch a few hrs of sleep.
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