Monday, July 21, 2008

Sleep vs. No Sleep

When the baby sleeps well the night before, your life seems full of possibilities. He is a perfect, beautiful child and you a beatific madonna. Summer is lovely like the little birds that come to eat at the bird feeder. Things get crossed off the to-do list powered by your well-rested brain and body grooving to your ipod on shuffle. When the baby sleeps well, even a $700 car repair is taken in stride - you have the money, thanks to your generous maternity leave.

When the baby does not sleep well, life is a tragic Italian opera - all wails and pathos. Everything is wrong. What were you thinking when you thought that you could handle having another child? He cries, you cry. The dishes pile up in the sink. You watch Dr. Phil because there is nothing else on at 3:00 p.m. and you are too fried to turn the tv off. You get through the day fueled by your resentment toward the baby's father, who, if he really loved you, would begin to lactate.