Though I'm normally a pro at changing diapers on sleeping children, last night I wasn't so lucky. After failed attempts at singing back to sleep, rocking back to sleep, and nursing back to sleep, I finally gave up. Jackson was awake.
So, there I sat, functioning just a notch above sleepwalking, watching as Jackson proceeded to play and explore as though it were 1 in the afternoon instead of 1 in the morning. I can't help but wondering... right at that very moment, how many other moms (and dads) were out there doing that very same thing. Up in the night, in a foggy haze staring at a wide awake baby. And I wonder, where do we parents find the patience and gentleness to be awake at times like this? Of course there are plenty of times when I don't have patience and gentleness in the middle of the night, but when I do, where does it come from? Did one of my parents ever sit up playing with me in the night- somehow planting the ability in me to pass it forward to my own children? Does this mean that Jackson now has the ability in him to someday patiently get up in the night with his own baby?
I guess I'll never know. But it would be nice (if this is something that has to be done) if all the awake parents and babies could at least do it together. It might be kind of fun, like a big slumber party. Though I guess if I am wishing for things, it might be smarter just to wish for sleep.
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