Yard Work: A Family Conspiracy
I’ve accused Baby Girl and Blue Eyes of conspiracy before, back when she was little. Now that she is seven months old, I think they are at it again because Baby Girl got me to finish bagging the leaves today, which happens to be Blue Eyes least favorite thing to do…
Technorati Tags: attachment parenting, babies, graceful parenting, laundry, William Sears, puppy
I love my time at home with Baby Girl. We do all sorts of things. We do all the basics, the feedings, naps and diaper changes. We spend a huge amount of time cleaning spit-up. (And my Baby Girl is quite a spitter. At all different times and in large amounts, she gets her most recent meal on her clothes and mine, on blankets, toys and furniture and all over the floor. Thank goodness for wood floors.)
After we have the basics down, we spend some of the day together and some of the day doing our own thing. Its a balance, in-between Ezzo’s BabyWise idea that I might spoil my baby if I hold her to much and the Sears’ Attachment Parenting idea that if I don’t hold my baby enough, she will have an empty void in her heart that will never be fulfilled. I have a feel for Baby Girl and I believe she does best with some of both.
When we hang out together, I hold her and kiss her and love on her. We dance together, I sing her songs and we practice rolling over on the floor. (I’m getting pretty good at it.) We read great books, like Guess How Much I Love You and sometimes we visit Helen down the street.
When we are doing our own thing, Baby Girl hangs out in her exersaucer or her high chair or on a blanket on the living room rug, usually with her favorite elephant and I get some housework or family business types of things done. Sometimes I try to do family business online or write on my blog.
And that is when the trouble begins. Now that Baby Girl is seven months old, she has had let me know that she does not like when I sit still. She can play on her own just fine if I am unloading the dishwasher or doing laundry, but if I’m just sitting there at the computer, she starts to get fussy.
So, this morning, the house was in order, well enough anyway, and Baby Girl was having a hard time when I sat down. Then I remembered the last few piles of leaves that needed to be bagged and that is how they got done. Baby Girl hung out in her stroller, watching me the whole time, making sure I was on task and doing a good job.
When the work was done, I looked at her and wondered, just for a moment, if Blue Eyes had put her up to this. He really, really doesn’t like bagging leaves. Hmmmm….
Well, either way, they got done and I don’t mind so much being active around the house. And when she naps, that is my time. That’s when I get online things done and I write some on my blog. And Baby Girl doesn’t mind at all.
