A Working Father's Guilt

 

My daughter, like me, used to always be a late riser.

I've never been particularly fond of waking up early. I can stay up as late as required, but waking up before 7 AM? That never happened unless necessary. And, apparently, my daughter decided to take after me.

When she was little, bedtime was often a battle.

No amount of cajoling worked. She would sleep late, wake up late, and, for some reason, insisted that her dad put her to bed. Not me. Her dad.

So there would be my husband, weary-eyed and exhausted, staying up until she finally fell asleep.

I didn't complain too much about this arrangement. 😄 She would sleep past 11 PM and wake up after 9 AM, which meant that even on the days I woke up late, I had plenty of time to finish most of my morning tasks before she was up.

It worked rather well for me.

Until one morning, when she woke up at 7.

This Mysterious Thing Called Sibling Bonding

 

It was one of those sunny mornings in May, during summer vacations, when the sibling was born. This little boy, all of six years old and the apple of everyone’s eye in the family, was told he had a sister.

I’m not sure how he took to the news. He must have been pretty excited, confused, anxious too, about this new entrant. But little did he realise that on that day, he was gifted a sibling — a sibling for life, whom they would both cherish in their own very strange ways!

Breastfeeding: Natural Doesn't Always Mean Easy

Soon after delivery, the next mammoth challenge for a new mom is feeding the baby — and figuring out breastfeeding.

We often hear that breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world. And it is. But natural doesn't necessarily mean easy.

A tiny human who has never done this before is expected to latch onto a mother who has never done this before, and somehow the two of them are supposed to figure it all out while recovering from childbirth, running on very little sleep and dealing with a whole lot of new emotions.

No wonder those first few weeks can feel overwhelming!

I still remember that my baby took about five days to really learn how to latch properly. Those early days were a mix of trial, error, patience, and a lot of learning for both of us.

One very important thing I learnt during that time is this: breastfeeding is not supposed to be painful.
If it is, it is usually a sign that something needs adjusting — most often the latch or positioning. It is not something a mother is expected to simply “tough out”.