Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Day 248 - Forget Me Not


During the weekday, I'm hardly home at all to see the kids. Not because work keeps me so busy, but the weekdays are the only time I can catch up on all of my summer movies. I might be able to get home in time once a week to put the kids to bed, otherwise Lisa puts the kids in front of our computer at home on the video chat so I can say good night to them from work. Sometimes the internet connection will die out and the transmission will end. And this got me to thinking that my streak of canceled television shows is so strong that I even cancel myself.

Occasionally when one of the kids wakes up in the middle of the night and the crying doesn't stop, I'll tumble out of bed to try and get them to shut up. I try the pacifier first, then I try patting, followed by duct tape, and finally carrying. One night when I ran out of duct tape, Andrew started to cry so I picked him up and tried to get him back to sleep. He calmed down a bit, but was still sniffling. Lisa came to check up on us, gave both of us a pat on the head (I don't think she meant to pat me on the head, but Lisa is blind without her glasses and Andrew does have a rather large head...), and went back to bed. But when Andrew saw Lisa leave his sight, his forehead wrinkled and then he started to cry!

I thought to myself that he couldn't possibly be a mama's boy this early on. So I just ignored it because how could the kids possibly prefer Lisa over happy-go-lucky me. But a few nights later, the same thing happened again! I was carrying Andrew, Lisa came to see him, she walked away, and then he cried. Personally, I think Lisa was devious and came to see us on purpose to see if he would cry when she walked away. She made quite a point to Andrew that she was leaving the room. How do I know that? Because Lisa said to Andrew, "I'm leaving the room!"

Could it be that because I'm not around the kids as much as Lisa that they are beginning to prefer her over moi? I do recall our pediatrician telling us at our last visit that infants around 8-12 months tend to prefer Mom over Dad, but it switches around age 2 when kids are much more intelligent and knowledgeable to make a decision over which parent is the better one (I hope Lisa isn't reading this...I really do prefer the bed over the sofa.).

Truthfully, it felt a little weird when Andrew started to cry in my arms when Lisa left the room. I know I prefer myself over Lisa, but then again I'm not an eight month old baby whose food pyramid consists of one food group: nipple. I'm sure there will be plenty of these awkward feelings and emotions in the future, but this was the first time for me. And I suppose this is a reflection of the bond I'm forming with our children. So thank you, Andrew, for rejecting me like the dozens of girls who rejected me during my school days. I can't wait to feel awkward again.

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