It’s happening. It’s that time of the morning where it really could go either way– the baby could either continue sleeping, thus letting you sleep in the tiniest bit, or she actually gets up, thus you pretend to be asleep until your partner gets up.
Almost inevitably, she wakes up. Now, the games have really begun.
You and your SO (in my case, Dad, hence the title) fall into an epic battle of laziness. You both lie there thinking two things: Who will get up first? Will she keep crying? What course of action will I take? What Herculean stamina will I showcase this morning?
She keeps crying. You both lie there, perhaps even feigning an exaggerated snore just to prove that you, you strong thing, aren’t going anywhere. Then, a wrench:
“Hey babe. I have to shower. Would you mind getting the baby?”
You. Ass.
So, I get up. I’m happy to. She’s my daughter, after all.
To be honest, once I’m up, I do love getting my baby. She’s always so happy in the morning. It’s like she hasn’t experienced the dredge of work, the “Do I have to go?” attitude of the hardworking parents. She’s more like, “WOW! TODAY IS AMAZING AND I AM SO EXCITED TO EXPERIENCE IT!” I love that.
So, if I “lose”, I change her and get ready to feed her. Mind you, I’m the one who has awakened, who has left my slumber to clean her probable poopsplosion. As soon as Daddy comes in, she reaches and cries out to him as if being with me has somehow been the worst 15 minutes of her life.
You. Brat.
Okay, okay. My eight month old baby is not a brat. She’s a delight and I love her more than anything. But in this instance, she sucks.
The thing is, she’s a daddy’s girl. She always crawls to him, wants to be held by him, cuddles him, often in ways she doesn’t do with me. It hurts, Moms. It hurts when I want to hold her so badly. I want her to know that I would do anything for her at any moment at any time. Even wake up for her, which is the worst.
But as soon as I see my husband respond to her, any semblance of jealousy goes away. It’s not jealousy, I realized, it really is just an extreme amount of love for this kid and her dad. This daddy’s girl is so lucky to have a dad who is so worthy of her affection. A dad who, more often than not, gets up with her, changes her, takes her on walks, and really loves her unconditionally. Although I want to feel the same love from her, it’s honestly so worth it to know that they have such an amazing relationship. And I’ll get my turn eventually. He’ll mess up…eventually…
So, it really isn’t Mom vs Dad, even during the intense chicken game. We are so lucky to be her parents who would do anything for her, even wake up for her poopsplosions.
Authentic Motherhood 