Parents: do you remember when you didn’t hear tears during the day? Just talking, laughing, and … silence?
Fast forward to today. Do you have one kid? Two? More? How often do they cry? If your kids are like mine, it’s every day. Every freaking day!
Like the tears of Alice, Baby and Toddler let it fall fast and often.
Now, it’s not a sob fest every day – maybe just a couple tears out of frustration from Toddler if she can’t get her zipper pulled up or something – and some days it’s just Baby who cries.
But I think I’ve heard crying/shrieking/hysterical sobs/whimpers every day since September 8, 2013, the day Toddler slid out of me.
… and for how many more days straight will I hear crying?! When will it stop?!
For a person who cries once every five years, maybe, and prefers silence to noise … this is hard to deal with sometimes. I’m not a monk, but I like to hear the thoughts in my head. (Even now, as Toddler is at school on a Friday morning and Baby is napping, I don’t even have music on as I write this. The silence is rare and enjoyed!)
But it’s also amazing how fast I’ve gotten used to having crying. It really is the new normal (to use a phrase I abhor):
- Baby cries when she wakes up and I don’t get to her fast enough
- Toddler cries if I wake her up from sleep
- Baby cries when I wipe her face after meals
- Baby cries if I don’t get food to her fast enough at mealtimes
- Baby cries when she falls too hard or hits something
- Baby whimpers when Toddler plays too hard with her, especially pulling her into a laying position
- Toddler has hysterical tantrums, especially if she earns a timeout
- Toddler cries if she’s very overtired by late afternoon
- Toddler tears up if she knows she disappoints us and is ashamed or sad that she can’t do something we know she can do – even if we don’t say anything to her and reassure her it’s okay
- etc. etc.
It’s like I’ve said before: parenting is triage! We encounter crying – disasterful or not – then deal with it and move on.
But it makes me wonder … what are silent days like? Or just quiet days? And when will I have one again? Will I notice it if I do?
Do you?
welcometothenursery 
Unpredictable cries ALL THE TIME. Possibly even at the literal drop of a hat. Brainiacal never cried as much, and now rarely cries, only when exhausted really. I’m not sure at what age the downtick happened. Sometimes you don’t notice things until they’ve been over for a while
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Oh geez… That’s so tough! I’m so sorry about Unpredictable. I hate crying!
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I cried a lot as a kid, too. A lot of the weird behaviors, I just shrug and say to my husband and firstborn, “Sorry, this is what sometimes happens when I replicate myself.”
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Oh my gosh! That is such a funny line! I will have to use that one … because it sure applies with me and my girls!! I can claim that a lot. They seem to pick up our habits, good and bad…. Why can’t they just fix the bad traits?! Sigh.
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Same reason you couldn’t fix your own parents’ bad traits, I guess.
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I’m over five years in and still deal with it daily! I’ve given up hope lol. But my aunt always said the more you cry the less you pee. So there’s a silver lining for you 🙂
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Ugh, I feel for you….
That’s a new one I haven’t heard!!! That’s good – I’ll have to remember that….
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My kid is between a baby and a toddler, so he cries for every single reason you listed! He wriggles and cries because he doesn’t want to be on the couch anymore, but then cries as soon as he hits the floor because he’s not on the couch.
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Yep…. Some days it seems like they’re constantly crying! I can’t blame them, really … But sheesh….
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