So apparently 15 month olds can hold a grudge. And get mad. Like, R-E-A-L mad. At least my little dude can.
Imagine a momma who had been stretched extremely thin due to demanding work and lack of sleep. Said momma took a quick weekend getaway trip with some girlfriends leaving her little man at home. Her little man was spending the night at grandma's house the first night (i.e., getting spoiled and playing with all sorts of fun new toys that momma and dadda don't have) and then hanging with dadda until momma came home Sunday afternoon. Momma had an awesome time with her girls but was excited to see her little man Sunday afternoon. She could feel the anticipation building as each hour of the car ride went by. She couldn't wait to see his smiling face and hear his laugh. She was ready to open her arms wide for him to run up to hug her. And then they would snuggle and all would be right in the world.
Um, yea, no.
The reality: Dadda and little man are at the park when momma comes home. Momma drops her bags at the door and races down the street to meet dadda and her boy at the park, but then sees them coming down the street towards her. Little man is in the stroller (dadda, obvisouly is pushing said stroller). Momma starts running. Little man stares blankly at her. Momma figures he hasn't seen her yet. Little man continues blank stare. Momma is three feet from stroller. Still nothing. Dadda chimes in "you have your sunglasses on, he doesn't recognize you." Momma takes glasses off. Still, nothing. So momma walks over to the stroller to pick up the little guy.
Instant screaming.
And yelling and reaching for dadda. Momma gets tears in her eyes. Momma pushes stroller home while dadda holds baby who refuses to even look at momma.
Momma thinks she can win him over with cookies. More yelling, more tears, more hiding behind dadda. Dadda offers cookie, buddy takes it. Momma cries. Dadda tries to convince baby to go to momma. Nope. The little guy won't even sit next to momma on the couch. Dadda must be betwen them. Momma's heart feels like it is breaking. Baby is mad at momma. Baby is really mad. Momma fears he may not come near her again. Ever.
But then, a-ha. Light bulb! Momma remembers there is one thing that dadda doesn't have that momma does have. Momma has milk. Baby likes milk. Momma asks baby if he wants milk and makes the sign for milk. Baby starts crying a whimpered cry. Baby wants milk, but is still mad at momma. Baby finally, thirty minutes after momma gets home, goes to momma. Thank God this momma's got milk.
Momma now knows there is a cost to going away with the girls for the weekend.
Poor Baby and Momma! In the selfish interest of being able to continue girls' weekends with Momma, Aunt Katie is going to have to brainstorm some Baby-friendly, non-milk bribes (as she has none of that to offer).
ReplyDeleteThose little boys learn early how to "get" their mama - and it just keeps going and going, even when they are growed up - BUT, thruthfully, there is nothing better in this world than a hug from our son(s), at age one or age thirty-five..
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