Adapting To The Unexpected

It should go without saying that parenting is anything but predictable. Since I'm in the stage of having young children, I can really only speak from that vantage point. From routines to likes and dislikes, our kids are constantly evolving, and our challenge is to keep up with that and not lose our minds in the process.

My daughter has always been a great night-time sleeper. Napper, not so much, but nighttime, excellent. Minimal if any crying, she usually just goes right down. Recently, however, she has been staying awake in her room through her entire CD, from start to finish. When the music is over and the CD is complete, she starts crying for us to turn the music back on. It seemed innocent enough at first, until we've started realizing that this cute display of "musical intelligence" might actually only be a display of manipulation, control, and a bit of a power struggle.

Finally seeing it for what it was, we decided she needed to cry this one out. We opted to not go into her room in hopes of breaking this new habit that was forming right before our very eyes. She clearly was not in agreement with our decision, and proceeded to shriek and wail for the next 35 minutes. Nighttime sleeping was so easy until this started up, and we knew that the longer we gave into it, the harder it would be to break.

With young children (and children of any age), all we can do is expect the unexpected and learn to adjust. Kids are going to cry, get sick, be upset, have fears, and as much as we try to troubleshoot, it's going to catch us off guard, or happen at an inconvenient time. We must be patient with them as they are learning to make sense of this crazy thing called life. And the sooner I realize that life is not about me, the sooner I will be a better mom to the children God has given to me.