When you have a baby, your ability to become a resourceful parent may be akin to having Mary Poppins’ magical, bottomless carpet bag because you need those bag of tricks at the end of the day when you are tired and the baby is crying and you are ready to rip your own hair out.
A resourceful parent is one who comes to the rescue and discovers what will make the baby happy when all the crying in the world doesn’t seem to be satisfied by a fresh diaper, a feeding, a burping or a cuddle. When you’ve done everything else in the world to comfort the baby and you’re already dreadfully short on sleep yourself – what is a parent to do?
The Old Parent Hand Off Trick
When my daughter was a baby, my husband was the resourceful one. He would come home at the end of the day and there I’d be – tired, frustrated and completely understanding why animals eat their young and he’d scoop up the midget and take her off for some quality Daddy-Daughter time.
It would amaze me how he could lay her down on a pillow in his lap and put his hand over her belly and in thirty seconds flat she’d be sound asleep. He would sit like that and read to her, play a game, watch television or just talk to her. If she were awake, she’d focus on him and listen intently or if she was sleeping, well she’d sleep like a baby.
I used to worry that I wasn’t a great parent because I always felt fried, but then I remember – at 2 a.m. I was up with her snuggled and feeding her. I was the one she listened to. I was the voice of reason. I was the one who gave her comfort and entertainment all in one fell swoop.
So I look at it this way, when your baby is very young and you are sleep deprived and struggling to remember what your name was before WAHHHH — a resourceful parent is the one that can provide you with relief – no matter which one of you is sporting the resourceful t-shirt tonight.
How have you been a resourceful parent?