Rejected

I've been rejected. By my 22 month-old daughter. It was bound to happen I suppose, but it still stung a little and made me wonder if this is just the way it is going to be. Moms of girls, you are probably laughing at the naivety of that statement. I'm not stupid. I was a girl and subsequently know to torture a mother, after all. I just want to pretend it isn't true, mkay?

Anyway, after working all day and then taking my oldest to a baseball training session, it was nearly 10:00 p.m. and I was looking forward to a quiet house and some time to myself.

Not ten minutes after I get home do I hear Lady Wah-Wah through the monitor starting to fuss and cry. Now normally I just let her go a little bit and she settles down to sleep in a few minutes. We're not talking real crying here, because that is different and I go right up there for that. No this was attention seeking. Daddy attention seeking. And when I went up there to check on things, guess who was sitting in her room? Yup. Daddy. I will henceforth refer to him as "The Sucker". So, I go into her room and The Sucker is sitting in the chair in the dark, pretending that he will just sit there and she'll calm down and go to sleep. Yeah, cuz THAT works. <clears throat> I left for a few minutes and upon my return there the two of them sit, The Sucker and Lady Wah-Wah, relaxing in the rocking chair together. Oh so comfy and... wait a minute... do I see an evil grin on my daughter's face through the darkness?

Of course now I'm thinking, "Great. It will take me at least two days to undo this nonsense!" <sigh>  I offer to take Lady Wah-Wah, thinking how I will fix this situation and get her in bed like she should be. I go to reach for her and she's saying, "Mommy. Mommy!" and naturally I think she wants me. And this is the moment. The moment I reach down to pick her up... and she swats her little hands, screaming, "Mommy!! Moooommmmy!!" and some other I-hate-you gibberish, and starts crying. Hard. The REAL kind of crying.

The Sucker tells me to leave and come back in a few minutes. I do. I am hoping to find her asleep on his chest so we can put this whole thing behind us. But no. She starts whining and I know she's going to pitch a fit again if I try to take her. The problem is, Dadd... er, I mean The Sucker isn't feeling well so I need to take over. I tell him it's like a bandage - we have to just do it and yes, she'll cry, but I'll handle it and she'll be fine. He relented and after slowly taking off the bandage by saying goodbye and giving hugs (rip it off, dammit!!), he left the room.

You know she cried, right?

Well you probably also know that I got her to settle down too? And then I got her in her crib, still awake and yet content? And then I left the room while she peacefully fell asleep soon after?

Yup. I'm awesome.

But the questions remain: Will The Sucker ever return to the simple status of Daddy? When will he learn that he has to be firm but he can be loving and gentle at the same time? When will he stop mucking up my efforts to stick to a routine??!

Probably when he accepts that he'll be rejected.

I'm thinking that's when hell freezes over, right?

That's what I thought.


ETA:
I liked my story just the way it was, but I have to... er... correct a bit maybe.... BUT I'M STILL AWESOME!

I talked with my husband (aka The Sucker) on Sunday and he told me a little more about that night than I knew before I posted. Looks like I have to eat crow!

He told me he read to her and then she wanted her crib, so he lay her down at 8:30 and she fell right asleep. (Impressive.) Then at 10:00 she woke up crying. The REAL kind. It turns out she had gas! Oops. Looks like Daddy made the right call that time.

But still, in my defense, he wasn't getting her back to sleep very well and he's still a sucker. Just maybe no longer with the capital "S". :)


.