Ladies, it’s time to call out our baby’s daddy. When a Mom tells me she has to see if your husband can babysit so she can do out without the kids; I say, WHAT? You have to ask? Please. I didn’t hear any complaints about the conception, therefore no complaints about the real work. But I don’t blame the men; I blame us. We’ve gone about this parenting thing all wrong. We think we know how to parent better than our mates. And let’s be honest, do we? It dawned on me one sleepless night as I kicked my hubby to get the screaming baby. Why can’t a man hear a baby crying in the middle of the night? As I lay in bed trying to go back to sleep while micro-managing my husband’s every move, I naturally pointed out he was making the bottle all wrong. Just as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I had an epiphany, or I was so exhausted that I gave up. I said, “whatever, I have no idea what I’m doing either.” And that’s where life just got easier for me. I was so tired that I surrendered my self-righteousness and let my husband do it his way. Believe me; this is not always easy, but I gained a partner and more importantly freedom.
Okay, so a couple of diapers went on backward, feeding time looked more like attack of the killer peas, but my boys got an involved and bonded father. I do get what I call the “mommy freak-outs” when I see my hubby and boys doing something crazy, but then I sit back and wait, armed the band-aids, ice packs, hugs, and kisses. Most of the time, they don’t need it. Let your man help and bite your tongue when you want to criticize. Go back to drinking a glass of wine and reading your favorite magazine knowing your child is with his dad. By the way, don’t panic if your hubby dumps your newborn out of his car seat onto the ground of the hot parking lot, I’m sure your child will be okay. Mine was.
