Parents are often their own worst critic. Whether it’s mommy guilt, paranoia of what strangers think, or having someone you know roll their eyes because of some quirky parenting thing that works for your family.
But sometimes you’re in a situation and just roll with it. Now what I’m about to describe is by no means epic or something to be documented for the ages, but it’s something I’ll remember and it’ll probably happen again and again.
A couple of weeks ago, Missy Moo and I had a pretty busy Friday. She managed to have a short morning map, but it was clear she was still a very tired baby.
Because the Village Mall was closed due to flooding as a result of the #DarkNL blackout, our weekly Weight
Watchers meeting was cancelled and we needed to visit the Torbay Road location. Mom, Missy Moo and I trekked across town. It’s not a bad location, but it’s definitely to used to having a major increase in meeting attendees. The meeting was fine and eventually we got out of there.
Then we went to Dominion (AKA Loblaws for you Canadians not in Newfoundland) for a few groceries and to eat lunch. By a total fluke, we crossed paths with one of my aunts and my grandmother. So we had a little visit with them before we actually did our grocery pick up.
We the proceeded to Costco… Which has become a regular thing on Fridays for the three of us. Costco is a very familiar place for little miss. She’s actually spent a lot of I time asleep there (because of those wonderful days she still fit into a bucket car seat so she could be removed from the vehicle without waking her in most cases). But no matter how zonked out she was, she normally woke up and was able to inspect the store from top to bottom. I swear some of the employees have watcher her grow over the past year. A few of them know us just because we’re regulars (customers who frequent a location so much that staff see the almost as regularly as some coworkers).
This most recent trip to Costco was pretty normal. Little miss was put in a shopping cart and proceeded to inspect the store, flirt with strangers and play with a toy we attach to the cart. But as we went up and down some isles, she was getting quieter and quieter. She wasn’t bawling out loudly like she often will and she was starting to get that I’m so tired I stare off into space look.
The next thing we knew she started to lean to once side and her eyes just shut. There she was – deep sleep.
Alright, this isn’t a big deal right? Actually it was pretty funny…
See what I mean?
Now maybe that should have been a hint that we had been out long enough and should be heading home. I looked at the time are realized it was well past the window where little miss has an afternoon nap (although lately she’s been fighting them something fierce so they don’t always happen. Ugh). Mom and I just laughed and figured it was better to keep shopping and let her sleep as long as we could because once we left the store, she would definitely wake up.
Again, I realize this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but the optics were a little off-putting at times. Mom and I joked that we were Mom and Grandmother of the Year material. I mean look at the poor thing half slumped out of the cart. She was obviously so exhausted she didn’t care where sleep happened.
Complete strangers who were also shopping made a number of comments and a couple asked what isle were the babies found in.
I’ve since had a few friends and family say they’ve had this happen. It was a first for Miss, but I’m OK with it occurring again if it means she can get a power nap while I deal with something.
I guess I felt a little self-consciousness because it drew attention to us. I doubt anyone really cared, but there was a little voice in the back of my head saying “How bad does this look?! You should be home so that your baby is getting a proper nap! Way to shag up her sleep just you can get a few things that aren’t critical.” Silly I know. I’m willing to bet more people were amused than critical.
Because we’ve been struggling with naps lately, I suppose I’m a little more sensitive to their necessity. If Missy Moo doesn’t get her naps in, no one is happy about it. I have some mommy guilt over the fact that I don’t take her out to playgroups and organized activities all the time. But to honest, it’s often just easier to stay home. We only have one car, so it means I have to pack her up and drive Matt to work. Up until a month ago, she was usually taking her morning nap right when he would be leaving for work. So if I was getting the car, she would fall asleep in the car for maybe 20 minutes max and then wake up once we returned home. Then she wouldn’t even consider napping again until the afternoon… but that would be a struggle because she was already starting the mid-morning tired. It’s funny how something so simple as a nap can shag up your day and dictate what can and can’t happen.