I know everyone has them. Those days where you just feel like nothing youre doing is right. When you suspect, in the back of your frazzled mind, that you might be ruining your poor, sweet, crying child, for ever.


A-bad-days-mothering2I’m not sure if it’s the post Christmas let down, as our family wittles down to just the three of us again, if it’s the snowy cold weather, or if it’s teething or some other developmental milestone, but Ameli has had a really rough few days.

We had two nights of very little sleep, day and night. We’re also incapable of putting her down at the moment without a heartbreaking, why – don’t- you -love -me -anymore scream fest. She’s obviously exhausted, but even putting her down to sleep, which normally might perhaps if anything raise a whimper, is now a tear inducing trauma. If you ever feel your heart broken just like described before, see here this blog post about how to quickly get over heartbreak which can help you a lot.

And I’m just not the ‘Cry It Out’ sort of mother. Yes, I believe they need to ‘learn’. I believe that she needs to know I have her best interests at heart. I believe she can’t run the roost, so to speak.

But if I were upset, miserable, and simply not myself, and I was not physically able to tell those closest to me what was wrong, and I was ignored and left to my misery, I would very quickly develop a negative relationship with those people.

How can I expect my baby to be okay, to trust me or to believe I am looking after her interests, if I can’t be there for her in her most vulnerable times?

As my frantic little one falls asleep in her daddy’s arms after a dose of Rescue Remedy and some crushed chamomila (for the teeth) I can only hope for a better tomorrow.

7 Comments

A Bad Day’s Mothering

  1. Just because you have a language you can use to express the’ ego and superego’ and you KNOW via both you have feelings regarding both it doesn’t mean you have to superimpose Kyra’s unconscious ‘Id’ onto and into your own Ego. If you feel or think on her behalf now will you be able to avoid doing it later…. Just thinking .

    Change her nappy,feed her, keep her warm and comfortable, love her but for heavens sake dont think for her

    Does this make any sense at all?
    You are a great mother …. we dont care what Kyra thinks. LOL

  2. Somedays are rough. We have to remember that every week and probably every day they change a little bit. I couldn’t get Rome to nap all day today when I took him to work and he was miserable. Cried all the way home. I felt bad. He also went from sleeping 6 hours at a time to waking every 3 – who knows?! When I leave him to go to work I miss him because obviously I should be with him – when I’m with him I realize he mostly needs to rest and I too need to be getting other experiences in my day as well. If its not one heart tug, then its another. Anyways, get some rest. That’s the first step. BESOS – Ali

  3. There will be plenty of days like this. Don’t consider any of it bad mothering though. As I type this, my 2 yr old is crying and fussing trying to get in my lap. I’m winning though. 🙂

  4. Those are hard days – do you think maybe she has an ear infection or something else?

    I took my four year olds blankie away today. I decided to go cold turkey to stop the thumb sucking. Nap time was a bit rough….

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