2.0 Readiness

Well, last week was exciting. I knew that Pitter-Patter and I weren’t feeling well, so I canceled my post on Monday. What I didn’t know was that within 24 hours of writing that post, we would be in the pediatrician’s office sporting 103.7.

Pitter-Patter is a dream of a child - she communicates well, she slept through the night early, she loves fruit and vegetables, and doesn’t really like cake or candy… and she doesn’t even cry all that much.

Up until the “Great Ear Infection Crisis of 2014” she’d never given us anything in the shape of a “real” problem or scare. It was the most I’d heard her cry in months. (She did not want that sponge bath I gave her when I realized what her temperature was, and she did not want me to give her a cold bottle of milk to bring her temperature down instead of nursing her. And she definitely didn’t want me to put her down long enough to put clothes on and comb my hair before we left for the doctor.)

I had about 18 hours of good, solid “parental freak out mode.” In short, it was a really big deal for us - at least until she started showing a dramatic improvement within an hour of the first dose of antibiotics. Big enough that I think it was kind of significant for my growth as a parent.

I have always known that I wanted a big family - or at least what passes for a big family nowadays. (12 is big, right?) But after having such an obviously easy child, I wasn’t really sure I was ready. Something was telling me that I wasn’t quite ready to make that jump from one to two. A kid that doesn’t give you any real problems can’t possibly prepare you for settling World War 3 in the back seat.

In short, I was scared about it, but maybe I didn’t really need to be. Pitter-Patter is fine, and I hadn’t thought about it before, but in the last week, she’s actually started throwing fits (laying on the floor and screaming) when I tell her that she can’t have/do something she wants, and she’s also starting to show some early signs of potty training readiness. And I’ve been handling those transitions pretty well.

I think I was more ready than I was giving myself credit for. I just needed God to show me.

Also, because I know my parents read this blog… No, Mom. I am not pregnant. :-)