A single dad for just one night
My wife is headed out of town for a couple of days later this month. During her trip I'll be solely in charge of Oliver. Day time is not a big deal. I have down the day care drop off and pick up routines, feeding, bathing, clothing, and entertaining. It's just that I've never really had to be in charge of Oliver all night long. Usually that ends up falling to my wife as she is packing the two secret weapons, breasts.
And so last night we tried an experiment. Oliver was my responsibility from 7:00 until I got up this morning (mercifully at 5:00a). Getting him down wasn't such a chore. I employed the old reliable and walked him down to sleep. There were some tears but nothing different than usual. After he was down, I called my wife and told her that she could come home. When she got home I got to go for a run (small cheat) and then get some stuff ready for the next day.
I crawled into bed around 10:30 or so and adjusted my position near Oliver. We slept like that for about a half-hour before he woke up. I patted him back down and thought, "OK, this isn't so bad." About 12:00 and basically every half-hour to an hour until about 3:00, he woke up screaming. I'd pick him up, go downstairs, give him a drink, settle him down, walk back upstairs, and then try to get him back in to bed. There were a couple of times when I just about lost it, but then remembered why it was that he was screaming and found it again. Finally about 5:00, he woke one last time. I called for my wife who woke up and took him from me immediately calming him down.
The result of our experiment was a success. I can, in an emergency, take care of Oliver over night. But something tells me that I'm going to need to stock up on sleep both beforehand and afterwards. I have a growing appreciation for single parents who do that night in and night out. And my wife and her two secret weapons.
And so last night we tried an experiment. Oliver was my responsibility from 7:00 until I got up this morning (mercifully at 5:00a). Getting him down wasn't such a chore. I employed the old reliable and walked him down to sleep. There were some tears but nothing different than usual. After he was down, I called my wife and told her that she could come home. When she got home I got to go for a run (small cheat) and then get some stuff ready for the next day.
I crawled into bed around 10:30 or so and adjusted my position near Oliver. We slept like that for about a half-hour before he woke up. I patted him back down and thought, "OK, this isn't so bad." About 12:00 and basically every half-hour to an hour until about 3:00, he woke up screaming. I'd pick him up, go downstairs, give him a drink, settle him down, walk back upstairs, and then try to get him back in to bed. There were a couple of times when I just about lost it, but then remembered why it was that he was screaming and found it again. Finally about 5:00, he woke one last time. I called for my wife who woke up and took him from me immediately calming him down.
The result of our experiment was a success. I can, in an emergency, take care of Oliver over night. But something tells me that I'm going to need to stock up on sleep both beforehand and afterwards. I have a growing appreciation for single parents who do that night in and night out. And my wife and her two secret weapons.
posted by mypetrock at 6:31 AM
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