Thursday, April 7, 2011

Guilt Complex

I swear I must have a guilt complex as it relates to our child. To name a few...

1) Last night, Everett went 8.5 hours before he woke to eat. I was up (partially because I'm sick and can't sleep), and the whole time I kept thinking I must be a bad mom or something because he hasn't eaten in so long. What??! This is the normal progression of a child.... I laid there wondering if perhaps something happened to his voice box and he couldn't tell me he wanted to eat. Seriously??

2) My kid naps like a champ. He'll take 1-4 hour naps throughout the day. But then I think "I must be a bad mom since he'd rather sleep than play." I feel bad that we barely get to play because he always wants to sleep! His sleeping hours are within the normal range, but for some reason I really get stuck on this one.

3) Everett is a very active sleeper. He's constantly moving, grunting, and opening and closing his eyes when he sleeps. So, there have been a few times where I've checked on him via the video monitor and his eyes are open. I think, "he must be done sleeping and I can't possibly leave him in there alone, that's awful!" So I go and get him, only to realize shortly after that he really wasn't done sleeping (making the rest of the day a disaster). He was just in his period of eyes open before closing them again. I've fallen prey to this several times, so I know better than to go in and get him before he beckons me, yet I still feel guilty about it daily.

4) Whenever Kyle has Everett and he cries, I feel guilty. Why do I do this??! I know he's his dad and all, but I can't help but think that Kyle shouldn't have to be the one to bear the screams and settle him down. I feel bad that our kid is screaming in his arms and I just want to rescue them both.

Is this normal?? My goodness I am one heaping pile of guilt-ridden!

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