Mommy's Girl
Andrea's been taking summer school classes 4 evenings a week this month. What this means for Fiona is that 4 days a week she only gets to see Mommy in the morning, before heading off to day care, and she's stuck with Daddy all evening.
She's been stuck with Daddy in the evenings before--about two evenings a week since Mommy went back to school last September. And she never really seemed to notice; with a child that young, the "out of sight, out of mind" rule applies.
Well, that rule applies no more.
On Monday, I picked Fiona up from day care and when we got to our block, I took her out of her stroller so she could walk the final leg (we do this on days when weather permits). That evening, Fiona found a gate that had been left open, swinging into the street. She became preoccupied with opening and closing the gate.
Curiously enough, Daddy imploring her to leave the gate behind and continuing walking in the direction Daddy wanted to go didn't prove particularly persuasive. What did eventually turn her interest away from the gate was a fall she took when she tried to reach for the swinging gate without looking. Daddy wound up carrying a crying child the rest of the way home.
Twenty minutes and about three mood shifts later, we found ourselves playing in the hall when I asked Fiona not to do something (grab the cat, probably). Fiona started crying, which wasn't unusual, but then she started shouting "Mommy!"
She ran to the gate that cuts her off from the office (computer wires and all that) and yelled for Mommy. I explained that Mommy wasn't going to be home until later and that she'd see Mommy in the morning.
No dice. Fiona then ran to the front gate that cuts her off from the power tools and random junk we store in our front room and cried out for Mommy. Eventually I was able to distract her, but it was the first time she'd really noticed that a parent was missing -- or, at least, that she'd expressed a desire to see the missing parent.
On subsequent evenings, Fiona has asked where Mommy was ("Mommy?"), and each time I've explained that she'd see Mommy in the morning.
The subtext to all of this, of course, is that Fiona firmly believes that the other parent would never have let her fall down, forbidden her from touching the cat, changed her diaper when she wanted to play, etc.
She's been stuck with Daddy in the evenings before--about two evenings a week since Mommy went back to school last September. And she never really seemed to notice; with a child that young, the "out of sight, out of mind" rule applies.
Well, that rule applies no more.
On Monday, I picked Fiona up from day care and when we got to our block, I took her out of her stroller so she could walk the final leg (we do this on days when weather permits). That evening, Fiona found a gate that had been left open, swinging into the street. She became preoccupied with opening and closing the gate.
Curiously enough, Daddy imploring her to leave the gate behind and continuing walking in the direction Daddy wanted to go didn't prove particularly persuasive. What did eventually turn her interest away from the gate was a fall she took when she tried to reach for the swinging gate without looking. Daddy wound up carrying a crying child the rest of the way home.
Twenty minutes and about three mood shifts later, we found ourselves playing in the hall when I asked Fiona not to do something (grab the cat, probably). Fiona started crying, which wasn't unusual, but then she started shouting "Mommy!"
She ran to the gate that cuts her off from the office (computer wires and all that) and yelled for Mommy. I explained that Mommy wasn't going to be home until later and that she'd see Mommy in the morning.
No dice. Fiona then ran to the front gate that cuts her off from the power tools and random junk we store in our front room and cried out for Mommy. Eventually I was able to distract her, but it was the first time she'd really noticed that a parent was missing -- or, at least, that she'd expressed a desire to see the missing parent.
On subsequent evenings, Fiona has asked where Mommy was ("Mommy?"), and each time I've explained that she'd see Mommy in the morning.
The subtext to all of this, of course, is that Fiona firmly believes that the other parent would never have let her fall down, forbidden her from touching the cat, changed her diaper when she wanted to play, etc.
posted by BWC at
5:18 PM
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