Bringing Up Mr. Mom

The other night, The Husband was working super-late and I had bedtime duty on my own.  Madeline was being a little bit fussy and we were at the point where she needed to just settle herself down.  After feeding and changing her, I put her in her crib and dimmed the lights.  Of course, she wasn’t especially happy with the scenario, but sometimes it’s ok to give them a little bit of time to learn how to soothe themselves, you know?

As I left her room, I told Nicholas to keep the noise to a dull roar and stay out of her room.  With the monitor on, I headed downstairs to do a bit of work.  Ten minutes later, Nicholas comes to the top of the stairs.

“Mommy, mommy, you have to come upstairs,” he said with great urgency.

“Why, what’s the matter?”

“It’s Maddie.  She’s crying.”

“I know, honey, it’s ok.  She’ll settle down in a few minutes, she’s tired, don’t worry.”

He gave me a crestfallen look, but walked back to his room.

Minutes later, he was calling me again.

“Mommy, I can’t do it.  I can’t let her cry.  She’s upset.”

“Honey, I promise you, she will be fine.  Don’t take her out of the crib.”

A few minutes later, all was quiet.  I finished what I needed to do and headed back upstairs.

There he was.  In her room.  He had pulled up a chair next to her crib.  He had filled her crib with stuffed animals, and was singing to her and holding her hand.  I could tell it was all he could do to restrain himself from climbing in the crib with her.

It’s tough bringing up Mr. Mom.  Especially the five-year-old kind.

Maddie is one very lucky girl.

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