Momitis

pre-momitis eating dinner with daddy

Momitis [mom-i-tus] noun 1. The missing of the mommy 2. Thinking your mommy is lost 3. Needing your mommy at bedtime

My daughter is suffering from momitis. At first we thought that perhaps it was some cranky bedtime issues or perhaps an evening burst of teething woes but it turns out that it appears to be the need to be put to bed by her mommy. Admittedly, there is a tiny part of me that is filled with joy about this and feels super special that the last face she wants to see is mine before going beddy bye.  A larger part of me however is reasonable and I feels badly for poor Eliot who is an amazing dad in a million ways and has a screaming little girl on his hands that he can't seem to console. She loves her daddy so much too. He is the fun one, much more fun than I am by far. I also feel badly for Lydia who must think that her mommy is missing or trapped under something heavy and cannot reach her.

The last couple of nights I was attending a workshop on Teaching Islam. The workshop was from 4:30-7:30. Luckily, I was able to leave work early on both days and spend several hours with Lydia before the evening of learning. This gave me an opportunity to nurse twice instead of pumping too. Even though, the resources and lesson plans were a dorky teacher's dream the report of the upset baby, however, was not. The first night Eliot sounded exhausted because Lydia's wailing was so extreme that she tired herself out and went to sleep at 7:20. When I got home, I did the carnal "no no" of picking her up and rocking with her for a while. She opened her eye for a second and went back to sleep. There was a huge possibility that that could have been disastrous but I wanted her to know that her mom was back and that she could sleep peacefully. Last night, I arrived mid-momitis break. I grabbed her, cuddled and rocked and off to dreamland she went happily. Not sure how to fix this one.