By Christina Rainey,
Oregon mom
I never imagined my life as a mom to be anything like it is. I especially never dreamed that my 14 month old baby, Lauren, who only speaks gibberish would be running my life. It seems that just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. Children learn so much from us but, most importantly, she has taught me so much. She has taught me patience, love, and kindness. Not surprisingly, I’ve also learned that indifference and unwillingness are a recipe for a meltdown.
For Lauren’s first Halloween she was only six weeks old so I was very excited about her second Halloween. I enthusiastically picked out a ladybug costume, complete with wings and antenna. I knew the antenna would never be worn but I was hopeful for the remainder of the costume.
A few days before Halloween we brought out the camera and the costume. She immediately hated it. Queue the meltdown and monster tears. The wings drove her crazy, the tulle tickled her neck and the antenna was just out of the question. Sigh. I tried to reason with her, I tried distraction, and I tried to politely ignore her. Nothing worked. Well, we had to get some pictures of her to send to family, right? So the only thing we could do was to bribe her with her favorite snacks. This was mildly successful and we ended up with some decent photos and the costume came off.
My dreams of my peaceful ladybug trick-or-treating or greeting the kids with candy were gone. Perhaps next year she can choose her own costume. I’ll just chalk this up as another lesson in the world of motherhood: flexibility and spontaneity can go a long way.
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