It?s been a long day. Your shirt is spotted with spit-up and your hair is in the same messy bun it?s been in since morning. You haven?t had a minute to yourself because when your baby did nap, it was for twenty minutes, on you.
It?s finally bedtime. The couch and Netflix beckon like the finish line of a marathon. You just want to break through that ribbon and collapse. You?re so very close.
You?ve fed your baby, bathed them, dressed them, read them a book and sung them a lullaby. You?re ready to put your baby into bed and creep away to you time. But you make one fatal mistake: You rush the ending.
Have you ever ridden a horse out on a trail" On the way out, the horses walk lazily, munching plants to their sides, bobbing their heads behind the butt of the horses in front of them. But the way back is a completely different story. As the horses sense that they?re approaching home, they quicken their steps. They don?t stop to graze, they don?t plod along. They?re on a mission. They want to get back to their stables as soon as possible.
Sound familiar" When we see the end in sight with our babies, we tend to scramble through the ending. We put on the diaper a little faster, and we pull the onesie over their head with more purpose. We sing a lullaby lovingly, but mentally we?re kicking our legs up on the couch with a glass of wine.
It might sound far-fetched, but trust me when I say that our baby senses our rush too, and the sprint to the end can ruin all your hard work...