Adventures In Attachment Parenting: If This Is Two…..Please Send Wine! by Allison Silver
Holy Cow this has been a rough week! And part of me feels incredibly selfish for feeling that way. At least a typhoon didn’t destroy my entire community and leave me without food, shelter, and clean water! Now the people in the Philippines have every right to say they are having a rough week! In fact just thinking about what they are going through really puts my frustrations into perspective. But their still my frustrations, they are still very much real, and they are still very much happening! So in the grand scheme of things I want to apologize in advance for my first world problems but I hope you can understand and possibly relate.
Since last week we have not had much sleep around here because our daughter came down with croup. I seriously thought she was teething, at first. She was perfectly fine on Thursday and then on Thursday night had a low grade fever and a runny nose. We even had people over here on Friday for a playdate. (If you came over to my house I want to apologize! I’m so sorry for exposing you to this! And if your child gets sick in the next 7-10 days you have every right to run through the streets cursing my name!) Then things took a turn and by Saturday I knew it was more then teething. She was congested, her voice was raspy and hoarse, and it sounded like a seal barking when she coughed. Yep, it’s the croup! Doesn’t Croup sound like one of those old timey diseases from the 1900’s? Oh no, poor girl she’s got the croup!
Luckily it’s not that bad but this is the first major illness that we have had to deal with in two years. (And I know that it really isn’t that major in the world of childhood illness but it’s a big deal to us.) It seems like ever since we started these damn parent/tot classes we have been bringing home all sorts of bugs! Ugh! I feel like I just wrote a check for disease. Here’s my money now hand over the germs! And yes, I’m now seriously considering homeschooling!
Luckily, her little body is doing a great job of fighting this off and we are progressing though it quite quickly, but it still stinks! This entire week I have been sleeping sitting up with her to try and help her breathe since she is congested and to help prevent coughing fits. Which helps but it really means that neither one of us sleeps that great. But in addition to being sleep deprived and ill we are also dealing with the typical two year old behavior, the whining, the demanding, the whining, the crying, the whining, the refusing, the whining, the kicking, and did I mention the incessant whining! Cheese and crackers! I’m sure that it’s a bit more amplified this week because she is sick and we are all sleep deprived, but I’m exhausted! And oh man does that whining get on my last nerve. I swear she even does it in her sleep sometimes!!
What is even more frustrating then the whining is that nothing I do is good enough. And as a parent feeling helpless is a major frustration. I want to help her but nothing I do is right. She wants more! And that’s exhausting! It also makes me wonder, is this just the beginning? Does a high needs baby mean a high needs two year old? We just turned two a few weeks ago is this a preview of the year to come? Oh if it is……..please pray for me and send wine, lots of wine!
Tags: Allison Silver, attachment parenting, childhood illness, Croup, exhaustion, frustration, Helplessness, Parent tot classes, two year olds
