...is the face I have seen the most of over the past few days.
Why is my sweet baby in such a fuss?
Is she hungry?
Sleepy?
Upset tummy?
Does she need her diaper changed?
Nope... all of her physical needs have been met. This is the face of a little girl who needs her mommy.
All.day.long. Constantly.
This face resulted because I put her down so that I could go to the bathroom. I was gone maybe 2 minutes, and I had a screaming child the entire time.
Ahhh, motherhood.
To top things off, my lovely husband is working out of town the entire month of July - literally. He was out of town last week, home two days, and back on the road again. We'll get to see him I think two days out of the next 23.
I've said it before: motherhood is a tough old job. Being a single mother, even more so. I have nothing but respect for the moms who tackle this on their own. It is crazy to have to be somebody's e-v-e-r-y-thing for every single minute of every single hour of every single day.
To have to finagle letting the dogs in and outside, keeping up with the laundry, doing the dishes, making food for myself, factoring in the shopping, getting the mail, going to the gym, paying the bills - in short, all the things that make up life - all by myself, while still attending to all the things that Leah needs is an immense challenge.
One that I feel incredibly dwarfed by. After all, I'm just one little person facing this big job all by myself. And when my child spends the vast majority of her waking hours literally crying for her mother, it makes it that much more difficult.
It's difficult to know what the cause of her distress is. It's possible that she is picking up on my stress over having Casey gone. It's equally possible that I'm more sensitive to it because I now have no respite from it. Regardless, it is incredibly stressful and confusing to know how to deal with.
So today I discovered a way to save myself from the frustrating agony of listening to a child cry all day: strapping her on to the front of me and carrying her around wherever I go. I don't know if this is the best idea in the long run, but I can't really focus on that right now.
For the time being, I'm more concerned with not seeing this face as often!
Poor little pumpkin....
You are doing a great job Momma! Has Leah been eating well still? Pulling her ears at all? Cecilia would get sooo needy for me when she got an ear infection. If she has a loss of appetite or if she is grabbing for her ears, or even a slight fever, you might have her checked. If not, the snuggly is perfect! Cecilia spent the first 3-4 months of life strapped to me like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reassurance, friend! She's still eating well and no fever, but does pull at her ears when she gets tired. She has always done this, but we have a doc appt. soon so I'll have them checked just the same. I didn't think of that; thanks for the idea!
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