Wednesday, June 30, 2010
"I Need Dad"
So his cries said.
I'm an attentive mother. You might not know it when you catch me taking a cat nap on the couch while my son dumps easter eggs all over the floor, but I know what he's doing all the time.
My attention to him has also earned me a degree in "Ethan Cry Translation". That cry means "Feed Me", this one screams "I'm mad at you", and others whine "I need a nap". I'm usually right on the first try when it comes to caring for cries.
And for the most part, I take care of them and suffice to fulfill his needs. Dad is around for play-time. Mommy is the "take care of me" parent.
Until that one night. Ethan has had nightmares before - I hear they get more frequent as they progress in the transportation stages (crawling and walking). Ethan is no stranger to falling. As a "bobble-head" as my sister calls him, his top-heaviness has earned him a crash out of his crib all the way to falling out of the bathtub (that one had me cracking up as he cried in my arms...I couldn't help it). He knows falling hurts, so I assume most of his nightmares have been about falling.
Normally, when he has one of these nightmares, he wakes up screaming - not a cry saying "Mommy I'm awake", but "Mommy I'm scared". Yes, I say mommy because I'm the one that answers and he's ok with it. But one night, his cry was totally different. It was still fear, but it was more - it was terror. I've never heard him cry like that before.
I went to get him and I held him and he clung to me and wouldn't stop screaming. For an hour, Ethan and I tried different things. From bottle to tylenol for pain relief. Nothing worked. He wouldn't stop for a second. He was still screaming like he was terrified when I put him in his bed and tried something different.
As one of those women who strongly believes men are the protectors of the home, I went and woke up my husband asking if he'd try something for me. I told him Ethan was scared and didn't want me and I thought maybe Daddy would be able to calm him down.
So, Hubby went into the room and picked up the screaming child and instantly, the cries stopped.
"Daddy is here. I'm safe." Not even 10 minutes in Daddy's arms and he went right back to sleep when we put him back in his crib. It was truly fascinating.
I'm an attentive mother. You might not know it when you catch me taking a cat nap on the couch while my son dumps easter eggs all over the floor, but I know what he's doing all the time.
My attention to him has also earned me a degree in "Ethan Cry Translation". That cry means "Feed Me", this one screams "I'm mad at you", and others whine "I need a nap". I'm usually right on the first try when it comes to caring for cries.
And for the most part, I take care of them and suffice to fulfill his needs. Dad is around for play-time. Mommy is the "take care of me" parent.
Until that one night. Ethan has had nightmares before - I hear they get more frequent as they progress in the transportation stages (crawling and walking). Ethan is no stranger to falling. As a "bobble-head" as my sister calls him, his top-heaviness has earned him a crash out of his crib all the way to falling out of the bathtub (that one had me cracking up as he cried in my arms...I couldn't help it). He knows falling hurts, so I assume most of his nightmares have been about falling.
Normally, when he has one of these nightmares, he wakes up screaming - not a cry saying "Mommy I'm awake", but "Mommy I'm scared". Yes, I say mommy because I'm the one that answers and he's ok with it. But one night, his cry was totally different. It was still fear, but it was more - it was terror. I've never heard him cry like that before.
I went to get him and I held him and he clung to me and wouldn't stop screaming. For an hour, Ethan and I tried different things. From bottle to tylenol for pain relief. Nothing worked. He wouldn't stop for a second. He was still screaming like he was terrified when I put him in his bed and tried something different.
As one of those women who strongly believes men are the protectors of the home, I went and woke up my husband asking if he'd try something for me. I told him Ethan was scared and didn't want me and I thought maybe Daddy would be able to calm him down.
So, Hubby went into the room and picked up the screaming child and instantly, the cries stopped.
"Daddy is here. I'm safe." Not even 10 minutes in Daddy's arms and he went right back to sleep when we put him back in his crib. It was truly fascinating.
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