This week, Alice's needs and desires have suddenly matured beyond her capability to communicate them effectively. In other words, I can't always tell what she wants anymore. That has led to quite a lot of frustration on both sides. Perhaps I should count myself lucky that this didn't happen until 8.5 months of age. All her worries and fussing used to be managed with food, snuggling, a diaper change, or putting a toy within reach. That only works about half the time these days. It's a struggle to figure out what she wants the other half of the time...which makes me think she might not know, either. This is a new frontier for me. I know I can and will eventually find a way through it, but nothing comes to mind right now...
She's also realizing her independence and dependence at the same time, which is confusing for everyone. She wants to move around and discover the house, but (so far) she must use Bobby or me to get there through finger walking or carrying.
This is the first time since Alice's arrival that I'm starting to doubt my ability as a parent. Of course, now that I've put that feeling in words it seems silly. I know I can handle this...I'm just out of ideas right now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Suz, I was really amazed at what a wonderful job you were doing parenting. You seemed so in your element. You're going to figure this out. She's only a baby, after all. I hear the 2s and 3s really test the parenting ability. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, Julia. I didn't mean that entry to sound like I was depressed about it. It was just a sudden realization that "now it's getting tough" and I would need to put more effort into it. Alice has been quite easygoing, which is a nice introduction to this parenthood thing.
ReplyDelete