The question people ask more than anything else about parenting experience has been, "Is he sleeping through the night yet?" I usually just answer with a quick "no," which satisfies some, but confuses others. Sometimes I'll say something like, "Well, I don't wear my contacts at night so I really don't know how long he sleeps or when he wakes up...it's no problem, really." Or, "Well, he sleeps in our room so it doesn't bother me when he wakes up. I just take care of whatever he needs and continue sleeping."
I know that there are people who are very concerned about their children sleeping through the night as soon as possible, and perhaps they make that an initial goal in their parenting and use means necessary to make that happen. I am not one of those people.
When Nathan was a few weeks old and after I had already been asked numerous times about his sleeping habits, I asked myself what my own goal was in parenting him at this stage. My answer can almost automatically - for Nathan to know that I love him. I can't measure this goal, and it requires different things on different days. I'm not concerned with sleep training or "showing him who's boss" - I want him to know that his mommy loves him unconditionally, and I want to respond sensitively to his needs and even his wants; and through those things, I want him to know how God loves his own children.
No comments:
Post a Comment