Did you ever catch your child's cold?
Did you notice how lousy it was!? How sore your throat was or how stuffy your head was.
Ever feel something coming on for days and just feel miserable?
Ever put it in perspective that this is what your child must have felt...lightbulb...that's WHY she was acting that way!
Imagine feeling this and not being able to tell anyone. Well, not being able to tell someone in the way that they would understand...because in fact, they are telling us!
These are the moments that I am most thankful for Attachment Parenting. It doesn't matter what I think of how Took should feel. She knows how she is feeling and she is telling me. It doesn't matter if I think she should enjoy playing with her older cousins, she didn't want to run around and instead she wanted to nurse a lot.
We were away recently and Took was nursing A LOT. I mean, like a newborn baby. We were away with a few families and it was jam packed with activities. I easily could have casted aside her frequent nursing sessions with, "ok now...you already ate", "you are fine" or "go play. You love the beach"...but I welcomed each nursing session, I scooped her up when she wanted more "mimi" and I didn't care if everyone thought I was nuts...fast forward two days....102.5 fever. There it was. NO WONDER!!!
I was so happy that I was myself...that I didn't feel the watchful eyes on me...judging me for my frequent nursing of my toddler. Ignoring all of the comments, "wow she does things differently huh!" and "I think I just saw her nipple"...but most importantly..I was happy that I was treating Took with respect for her feelings. Sure my nips may have been sandy...or there were times where I was so hot that the idea of babywearing made me afraid that we would both melt into the sidewalk...but once I strapped my baby girl onto me...and her head met my heart...I did melt into the sidewalk, but not from heat. I was so happy that I followed my heart and nothing else. Well...maybe my husband proclaiming to the unsupportive support, "hey..the kid needs a nip!"It was the truest of "Mommy...I need you" and me being 100% there, without anything else.
Those are the moments that I smile at her and say, "YES! I accept you for ALL OF YOU!!!!"
