Mr B had Henry for 3 and a half hours while I slept this morning, then he handed him back to me and walked the dog and got ready himself, I handed Henry back while I went off to York for the day with my friends. When I arrived home I dropped Mr B straight off to meet his friends for drinks in town and got Henry bathed and to bed before starting my wrapping mission. True tag-team parenting. I'm off to bed now and he's on a bus home so I won't see him until the morning. I've missed him so much I might even let him lie in in the morning and nurse his hangover in peace rather than suffering Mr Tumble and breakfast time with a toddler. I'm all heart.
I remember when Henry was tiny I thought I'd never be able to go out all day and leave him with his daddy. Mr B will very openly tell anyone that he really found the first few months difficult. He had NO idea what to do with the screaming baby that only wanted to feed 24/7. The baby that would be screaming blue murder for him but would stop the second he was in my arms. He adored Henry more than anything, but he knew that he was very much second place to mummy in the eyes of his son and that must be really difficult. It's the one downside to breastfeeding I think. It's absolutely true what they say about it being hard for dads to bond with tiny babies if they can't feed them, but what we've both seen now is that's totally natural; it's how babies are programmed to be. They need to be with the person that's going to feed them and keep them safe, and for the first part of their life, that is their mummy. Henry now absolutely adores his Daddy, and I no longer feel frustrated by Mr B's lack of confidence with Henry or worry about leaving him all day. Last week they went Christmas shopping to a busy shopping centre on the busiest day of the year and today they tackled soft play on a Saturday and had a hair cut too....I'm not sure even I have the confidence for these kind of activities!
So on one hand I'm glad that we can tag-team parent so easily on days like today, but I do miss hanging out as a family. I'm so old and boring aren't I?! If you're reading this and feeling like you'll never be able to leave your baby with your other half or feeling envious...don't. I've been there. And it gets better. If you have a particularly clingy baby, just go with it; enjoy it even. They grow up so quickly and I'm certain that in a few years time when my boys are out all day at football, I'll really miss those early days where only mummy would do.
And my advent calendar treat today was a Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate.
No comments:
Post a Comment