Two out of four isn’t bad.
Unless we’re talking about colic. When two out of your four children suffered, rather suffered you through, colic, it’s not good.
That we made it through is like a badge of honour, even all of these years later.
Of course, the first question anyone asks about a new baby is “How does he sleep?”. I wasn’t very gracious about these comments. I was too tired for gracious! Brutal honesty is what you got. He didn’t sleep. He never slept. Nights were spent pacing floors, swaying back and forth and bouncing babies. I swear I still bounce and sway when standing in line at the bank.
One night, I was driving around our neighbourhood, trying to lull the wee one to sleep. It was 3am and I was stopped in front of a house. The TV was on. I could see the glow and thought to myself “Why are they awake!? They could be sleeping! I don’t like this family with grown kids and the leisure to be up at 3am just because!”. Yes, I was so tired and irrational that I avoided those neighbours for years after that.
I want to tell you that I have tried and true tips for dealing with colic, and I will, but a friend is going through the colic thing right now. When I talked to her yesterday all she wanted to hear was that it was okay to be irrational and crabby. She didn’t want tips, just an ear.
She felt much better when she heard I got mad at random neighbours who could sleep but chose not to.
That’s the kind of friend I am.