Hale Kilinahe: The Journal

January 11, 2000 THIS MOMMY GIG is often much harder than it looks. It turns out that we had the right idea when Katie was an infant. Until she was about four months old, she slept in a tiny bassinet that sat on a dresser. She slept very, very well in it. So well that I would stand above her and watch her to make sure she was breathing. We would put her in it at 7 p.m., and she would wake up at 6 a.m. I got far more sleep than I deserved. One day, she grew out of it. We couldn't decide between running out and buying a crib or just letting her sleep with us until she was no longer inclined. We actually bought a crib that doubled as a playpen, only to get it home to read the instructions and find out that the crib part would only hold fifteen pounds, which she was rapidly approaching. So she's been hanging out in our bed for the last year and a half. Sometimes it's been okay; sometimes I wake up with a toe up my nose. But she's almost two now, and I just decided spontaneously that since her birthday is coming up, now is a good time to get her out of our bed and into the unused toddler bed in her room. Fat chance. For one thing, it is useless to try to reason with a toddler. I tell her, "Katie, you're a big girl and big girls sleep in big girl beds," while she shrieks herself blue. She doesn't give a flying fig about big girls. I know we're breaking her heart, and I also know that it's inevitable. We're now on night three of this masochistic experiment and I've memorized "The Cat in the Hat." For another thing, this milestone is another annoying reminder that she is no longer a baby. < BACK | TOP | NEXT >