Sympathy Pain

It’s the general consciences about Tony. He’s an extremely laid back baby. I know as result of writing this that he is changing into a demon child. However, that’s what we get all the time.

Consequently, I think all other children his age are on crack.

This weekend, I had to pick up a dryer from Best Buy. I had lined up a truck and timed my day, but hadn’t really thought about the fact that I was the lone parent and the car seat couldn’t go in a truck. So Saturday morning I had to do some begging of friends to watch Tony while I made this happen. Sandra, the grandmother of Maddie, agreed to watch him. So I slapped some food in him and off we went.

Now, Maddie is about a month and a half older than Tony, so she is more advanced in motor skills and such, but I wasn’t prepared for the difference in personality. It was like night and day. Maddie was almost vibrating, looking around, reaching for mom, trying to see Tony. Tony…could care less. Just laid back and watched.

“It was hard to tell when he was unhappy.” Sandra said.”He always seems ok.”

I thought maybe this is just the difference between these two, but then we went to dinner with the Ronda and Steve.

Tony was playing, setting up, with a toy. He lost his balance and fell over…and laughed.

“Our’s would never have laughed. They would have cried.” Steve said with the sound of disbelief.

Then this morning, his teacher (is that the right term for daycare?) went on and on about how good and happy of a baby he is.

“The only time he is fussy is when he’s hungry, dirty, or tired. And we can do something about that, but even then, he’ll try to smile the whole time he is whimpering. The other babies will wail for no reason, and he just takes it in stride”

I think he has adopted his parents outward, laid back, attitude. Our house is usually very quiet and non manic. I think that makes a huge difference with a baby…or he’s just waiting to let loose now that I’ve publicized his mellowness.

I’ve been the drop off man for tony for as long as he’s gone to daycare. Sarah has done it a couple times, but for the most part it’s my job. I actually enjoy doing it. It’s a good 15 minutes to his day care, which we sing and laugh through most mornings, then another 5 to 10 minutes relaying info to the staff. They have a chart to fill out last feeding and last diaper…and what was in it. We then chat about how he’s doing and what happened the day before. It’s a good start to the day.

I have noticed a few things about other parents that drop off the children that I’d like to share and comment on:

Cell phone use…hang up your phone long enough to relay information, talk about your child, and say goodbye to them. You’re not dropping off your cleaning.

Separation anxiety… Don’t feed it. It’s best to stay just long enough to talk to the teacher, get the child distracted onto something shiny, and then leave. Don’t keep saying good bye. You’re just making it worse. Also your child is not going to be permanently damaged if you don’t say goodbye a dozen times.

Cigarettes…just a pet peeve. Why on earth do you have to smoke while your infant is strapped into the back seat? AND I really hate those smoking while on the cell phone as they set in line to drop off. Argh!

Those are the few for today. I found that drop off is a great time to spend with the people who take care of your child. Take the opportunity and turn off the rest of your day.