Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Is Daddy a better Mummy than Mummy is?

The boy is really excelling these days; every other morning he gets up at 6am to look after a very awake Baby, allowing me to sleep in for a couple of hours until he leaves for work. He really is a super-fun play-Dad too. He watches Baby Einstein with her, swings her around in his arms, throws her up and down, gives her breakfast and puts her to bed for her morning nap.

It's all a sharp contrast to when it's my turn. There's a little play, but I tend to leave Baby to play on her own a whole lot more while I do the dishes and the laundry, make and eat breakfast and think about what I want to do for the rest of the day.

Nap are different too - these days, the boy is much more successful with getting Baby down for a nap. Most mornings I put her down after the usual wind-down, then wait up to an hour before bringing her out again because she's stayed awake all this time. This morning with her Dad, she napped for over an hour!

I can't play with her as much during her bathtimes, since it still hurts my hands to hold her slippery little body in the water. Before daylight saving ended, Play-Dad always did bathtimes and could swish her around and make her giggle.

And he's better at settling Baby at night too. Whenever I try to settle her without feeding her, she just cries harder.

I'm thinking that when the time comes that Baby no longer wants boobie, I'm going to feel more than a little redundant.

6 comments:

jon said...

I think alot of dad's start out as the play-dad. But it's not long before many play-dads become the ENFORCER!

Jon said...

Hmmm, another Jon. Not like it's an uncommon name ;)

Dads usually act as the good guy and 'spoiler', but that's just because traditionally, at least, they aren't as home as much and try to make up for lost time. I'm sure you'll do fine :)

The Skirt said...

I think it's probably a lot of fun to play and have some childcare time as an antidote to a day out of the home at work - but when you od it full-time it's less of a treat and more like real work. I have a lot of fun with kids for a limited period, but I can imagine I'd be less effective over a full day or week!

Violet said...

I'm relieved that no-one's commented that I sound like an ungrateful cow. The boy not only changes nappies and plays with Baby; he also came home with a bunch of roses for me, for no reason.

I'm almost looking forward to when Baby starts dating and the boy goes shopping for a shotgun ;-)

Watson Woodworth said...

As a very small child I remember little of my dad and less of my mom. He was quiet and stoic and towering (He's 5'2") with catcher's mitt hands. He would play guitar and sing and bring me a can of Hawiian Punch when he came home from work. (He even had one of those black blue-collar lunch boxes)
My mom worked midnights when I was little but when I did see her she was more THERE and she's the one I connected with.

Violet said...

nigel: wow, it must've been hard for your parents to have to spend so much time at work instead of being with you.