When the babe was three and a half months, I wearily asked my mommy-n-me group, “How do you get your child to sleep?”
No one answered. (I interpreted that as all their children slept.)
Then one mom quietly added, “Have you tried the Sleep Sheep? It has a heart beat sound.” My inner eyes rolled and internal monologue ensued, “Lady, my kid is waking up numerous times a night, can’t be put down, and won’t nap. Some heartbeat sound isn’t gonna clear this up.”
But whatever, I had no other suggestions. So I ran to Babies R Us and bought myself the SleepSheep. (No heartbeat sound on this one, so ocean would need to suffice.)
The Sheep became part of our nightly routine. It wasn’t our only tool in the arsenal to combat the lack of sleeping. With time, some crying, and with the soothing ocean sound from the Sheep, the babe started to sleep better. (Not through the night, but better.)
The Sheep became integral to our daily functioning. Was it the really the Sheep’s magical effect or just the course of baby’s development? Who cares? I bowed down to that Sheep each nap and each night.
Last week, we returned from Arizona after a month long visit. Of course, the Sheep came with us. This text greeted me as soon as the flight attendant let me turn on my phone:
Hey, I hear little Z left a sentimental gift for us. Please tell her we are all going to sit around and listen to the ocean in her honor.
My next word started with an F. In all that we’d packed, we’d left the Sheep behind.
More rational mothers would have just said, ahh, too bad and gone about their day. Probably seeing the priority of getting home and getting their baby for a nap after a long airplane ride. I am not that rational mother.
I blamed my husband for not packing it. Then informed him that he was to drive directly to Babies R Us. Nap time and feeding be damned. In my blind fury, I forgot that it was rush hour and that I’d be heading into Toys R Us at Christmas time.
It was every shade of awful – and ended with nursing in the parking lot.
But I didn’t care. I got a new sheep. A BIGGER Sheep. (The one with the heartbeat. Which actually is a little creepy, so we stick to the ocean sound.)
And the little Sheep? Well, she has a new mother in Arizona…who bows down to worship it each nap and night time.