Life with an 11
month old is exhausting.
Yes, it can be exciting, joyful, and yes, I have my proud moments too, but today it’s, well, exhausting.
The people around me most often I'm sure would say, I tend to hop on the frustration train the moment Syrie starts to act out or they might say I just get down right angry, and they’re right. I never claimed to be World’s Greatest Mom, but today I tried another approach. I stayed calm, didn’t lose my cool, and yet still she seems to be impossible to satisfy. Maybe satisfy isn’t the right word because I’m sure that leaves some of you thinking, I spoil her and give her whatever she wants the second she tears up, but that’s not true either. I had the television off, phone put away, and all of my attention on her. I was trying to keep her mind off of whatever it was that made her want to whine and fuss, but nothing worked. I tried ignoring it, but I’m learning that she doesn’t care what approach I take. She’s still going to act how she wants, when she wants, for as long as she wants.
Standard ‘Throw a Fit’ hour begins sometime after I get home from work. It’s not the greatest thing in the world to come home to after a full day at work, but hey, that’s life when you have kids, right? Syrie seems to start her crying saga earlier now-a-days, ever since I started my new job and are off work early, she seems to be in rare form as soon as her grandma leaves our house. I thought I would amuse myself by capturing some of her moments on camera. Please enjoy at my expense:
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Here you see her playing nicely with her dolly. 15 minutes prior to this photo she was screaming,
and then stopped for no apparent reason. |
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| This was a short 15 minutes after the above picture was taken. |
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| And again, she's happy (what's with this girl?) |
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| MORE tears. |
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Now this one is a bit of a fake-out..simply proves she controls her tantrums..
she was crying and did a 180 and turned it into a laugh. |
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| Now she's mad. |
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| Oh gee, a picnic basket-this will take my mind off things until bedtime... |
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| Gotcha! |
I hope you enjoyed the mini version of what our night looks like most evenings. Some might ask, “Well could she be teething?" Is it bad if I don’t have any sympathy for her even if she is? Maybe my brain isn’t wired to deal with the mindset of an infant. I like the comfort of knowing the person I’m communicating with can, well, communicate back. Can understand what it is that I’m telling them, and in turn can tell me what they need or are feeling. SJ obviously isn’t there yet, and I’m left feeling frustrated and worn out because I get no where with her when she acts like this. All I have to say is thank goodness I have my husband. I don’t know how all of you single moms do it--seriously. Motherhood is a much, much, much harder job than it looks. I wish I could engrave that into my friends who are so anxious to start a family. It’s one of the many things you’re told, but don’t really comprehend until you’re there. Yes, it’s the greatest thing in the world to have this tiny person who loves you and depends on you, but it also changes EVERYTHING whether you’re ready or not.
With that being said, I love my little Syrie to pieces, and I look forward to more conversing with her in the future--for now, "Bah Bob Babble Mom and Da" will have to do.
Again, we are on the exact same wavelength. But I will say that life with an 18 month old is sooooo fun! Yes, he has his tantrums, but they are fewer and farther apart and last for seconds not minutes/hours. I tell you, if I could give birth to a 14 month old, I would have another baby in a heartbeat. But thinking about those first 14 months sends me into a panic attack! Hang in there-- you are so close to the golden years--and it is really a lot of fun. :) (Even for me)
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