Friday, February 13, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day, my Monkey

When I read this article titled "Mad at Dad" on Parenting.com, I found myself nodding along to most of it.

Lord knows taking care of a baby is hard. Taking care of a baby AND a hubby is even harder!

There are times when I feel so mad with Dear Hubby that I could yell "You should have been born a Manc!" at him. (We're both Liverpool fans, there is nothing worse to us than to be a Manc. Hehe) There was that incident when we were getting ready for Connor's jabs at the paed's. The jabs were scheduled at 11am and I was already running around by 8am. Why? I had to get him fed, run in and out of my shower, I had to wash his bottles and pacifiers, grab my breakfast, I had to sterilise the whole lot, I had to make up the bottles, pack the diaper bag, feed Connor again, change his diaper, put him into car seat, take him out because he pooped just as I'd strapped him in and change him all over again.

Meanwhile, Dear Hubby enjoys a leisurely breakfast, reads all Liverpool FC-related news on the Internet, goes up to enjoy a shower, picks a colour-coordinated outfit, dresses... and just as I'm trying to strap Connor in properly in the car seat, he glances at his watch, looks over at me and says impatiently, "Will you hurry up? The driver's here and the appointment's in 10 minutes!"

Boy. KA-BOOM.

I get mad because he still has most of his old pre-baby life. He still gets lots of his Me Time while I don't have any of that anymore. Where's that old me who used to read interesting books and play her guitar and have a career? I think she's gone into hibernation and will only return when Connor has grown up and gone off to University.

But just when I feel I'm at the end of my rope and about to bash Dear Hubby's head in, he does something sweet. Like getting up early to take care of Connor so I could sleep in. Grabbing Connor for a Superman game that our baby loves. Dancing and laughing with Connor to some Miami Sound Machine tune. Cooking dinner... and then washing up. Watching him feel a little self-conscious as he talks silly babble to his little boy. Crying after watching Benjamin Button because the film makes him think about our son and how he won't have forever with him.

This is when I remember all over again that he is a good man, he's a good husband and a good father. He works really hard in an environment he doesn't enjoy so that we have a comfortable life. I've since learnt to delegate some of the baby duties to him and it's made both of us a lot happier. He doesn't always get it right but like me, he's just trying the best he can.

Happy Valentine's, my Monkey.

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