Born this way?

[ed_rex]

If there's one thing that must be characteristic of all child-carers (if not necessarily all parents; some have nannies), it must be exhaustion.

Now, I feel I have to rush to equivocate: Raven and I have been extremely fortunate compared to many so far. Nevermind that our Baobao seems healthy (if not exactly rushing to hit her developmental milestones; for instance, nearly nine months old, she has yet to sit up by herself or start to pull herself to her feet by holding on to the walls of her crib or playpen; if my parents are to be (independently) believed, I was ,walking at nine months, three weeks), but since she was about two months old, she has slept through the night more of than not.

Magister Domum, with Child: When she was sweet, she was very, very sweet ...

Mind you, a baby's night is not necessarily a grown-ups. My baby is currently awake and demanding between 07:03 and 07:18, not matter if (like Wednesday) she went down for good around 22:30 or if, like yesterday, she went down (after a rough bedtime!) around 22:30, then awoke just before midnight for a feed, and then again around 02:30. And she cares "not a whit" for what time poor Young Papa Geoffrey went to bed.

And because of that, I tried to hit the sack around 23:00 last night, and would have managed 00:00, had she not chosen to demand more food around 23:50. Raven took care of that feed, but I was still awake for it and after it.

Anyway, since I stopped working for a paycheck (which usually saw me home after midnight and lucky to be in bed by 04:00) it has been Young Geoffrey on the morning shift. Which means I am very lucky to finish a night with even a full seven hours of sleep. Usually it's more like five or six.

Again, I'm not complaining, just noting the fact: babies are a lot of work!

But no regrets. The moment Raven squeezed her out, I felt a flood of hormones washing through my system that declared, She [the baby, sorry Raven] is the Chosen One, the most important thing in your life from now on!, and those have not washed away.

Not everyone wants to be a parent, and more power to you! But some are built for the job, and I seem to be one of them.

Post-scriptum: Hivemind! The photo above reminds me strongly of a famous painting; does anyone recognize it and, if so, could you point me to a copy of it? If I could accidentally participate in that art reproduction during quarantine meme, I would do it.

Comments

[serpentrose]

Being a good parent is one of the most challenging, and most rewarding, things one can do.
And remember: naps are your friend.
Also: I was thankful that my spawn's preferred sleep schedule was similar to my own.
As to the painting thing, the photo has compositional similarities to paintings of Mary with Baby Jesus.

Naps? Oh snap!

[ed_rex]

Being a good parent is one of the most challenging, and most rewarding, things one can do.

Yes to both statements! Although, I wouldn't have thought to use the word challenging until you did, simply because the actual actions involved are relatively simple - feed, change, sing, repeat. But of course, she's also changing every day, no matter how incrementally.

And remember: naps are your friend.

That's what Raven keeps telling me (and which she very effectively practices herself). Unfortunately, I've not been a napping sort of guy for many decades now; I need to be really tired to manage it. (I almost did, yesterday; in fact, I nodded off momentarily a couple of times while spending time with her in her playpen.)

As for the painting, there's one Madona and child painting that (I think) the photo is a dead ringer for, but I haven't managed to find it. Or even, to confirm it actually exists.

Re: Naps? Oh snap!

[serpentrose]

I like to use the word 'challenging' in relation to parenting because while it's synonymous with 'hard' the connotations are more positive.

I hear you on the naps thing, I myself can't sleep during the day unless I'm exhausted. However sometimes a quiet laydown for a bit is enough to help.

Good luck on finding the painting. I'm wondering if there's making a compositional layout*, just showing the basic shapes and outlines, and doing an image search of that would yield useful results. I'm also unsure how to do that with minimal effort.

*no idea if that's what it's actually called, it just seems like a reasonable thing to call it.

Re: Naps? Oh snap!

[ed_rex]

Your word, challenging, is growing on me, and I am with you both on know knowing how to effectively conduct an image search and on wanting it done with minimal effort. I'll probably just leave it up to serendipity.