Photo Credit: Creative Commons – Storyville Girl
Our baby boy turned nine weeks old last week.
To say that he brings renewed joy to our lives would be an understatement. But he also brings something unexpected to our lives – when we’re willing to look for it – and that’s wisdom.
Yesterday evening, about two hours before his bed time, he got very, very “fussy.”
[EdiTOR's Note: I recently wrote a post about misused phrases that parents ply to try and describe their newborns behavior such as fussing, nursing, bubble...etc.]
So, the baby was screaming his lungs out like a non-emphysemic banshee practicing opera for seemingly no reason.
He had just finished “nursing”; he had a fresh pair of diapers; he wasn’t tired since he had recently woken from a short nap; both my wife and I took turns holding and rocking him to no avail; he has not been a colicky baby at all and there was no reason to believe that he was in pain.
We were a bit baffled.
We had music playing in the house; had tried stimulating him with his favorite toys; tried distracting him with instrumentals played by his older sisters; we rotated him through his baby swing, bouncy seat and baby gym.
Nothing worked.
So I took him out on our front porch to sit while he screamed. I sat in one of our rocking chairs, in the warm still darkness of the night that was only disturbed by cicadas, crickets and his screams.
Almost immediately his crying stopped, his body relaxed and he calmed down.
It seems nothing worked – literally.
What he needed was nothing. No stimulation, music, flashing lights, activity centers, stuffed animals or baby talk.
Up until that moment, all of his physical needs had been met but what he truly needed at that moment was nothing more.
As I sat there rocking with him in late evening quiet, the power of the lesson struck me.
So often I get caught up in the pursuits, challenges, activities and distractions of life that I often forget to simply just sit still and enjoy life.
I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to change that, and I’m grateful to the little teacher who taught me the lesson.
Question: What’s a life lesson you’ve learned unexpectedly that you’ve tried to apply?
