Wishing she would cry...

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It was then that I realized that I was wishing for something I never thought I would wish. I wished she would cry. 

It was a couple of nights ago and I was putting Hannah to bed. I, myself, was very tired. The night before had been the 30Hr Famine at our church, and while I didn't stay all night I did lose a lot of sleep. Meanwhile, Hannah was as energetic as ever. 

We read our books and got ready for bed, and then I held her in my lap, radio on, while she had a bottle. In that position, she decided to get goofy. Suddenly everything was funny. 

I scratched my face: 
"Hehehe, Daddy doing?" 
"I'm scratching an itch." 
"Hannah scatch it!"

I adjusted my sitting position:
"Heheh, Daddy tickle!"

Everything I did was funny, and I just wanted her to go to sleep. From experience I know that when Hannah gets goofy she usually needs extra time to cool down, and so I was looking at a long 'night night time.' From experience I also know that if she fights with me, crying or getting upset, that she doesn't need extra cool down time. The act of crying wears her out, but the act of laughing gives her energy. 

It was then that I realized that I was wishing for something I never thought I would wish. I wished she would cry. Just fight me a little bit, tire yourself out, go to sleep, please!

It has definitely given me much to think about. I haven't wished she would cry going to bed since then, even though she got goofy last night in exactly the same way, but I still have to figure out what to do what this. 

What would you do? 

Comments

muzik_lova said…
From your description, Hannah reminds me of Boo from Monsters Inc. LOL. Haha, interesting way to write the article though. :)
9:10 PM
Anonymous said…
You can try explaining to Hannah that "Daddy is tired and needs to go to sleep, can you lie down quietly by yourself?", or some such.

I have a personal experience of doing something similar (not exactly wishing the kids would cry, but similar). Afterward I felt really bad, the worst since a long time ago, and I don't wish to repeat the experience.

Roger Hui
5:42 AM
Andrew said…
She does sound like Boo; I never thought of that :)

And thanks for the advice Roger.
10:47 PM
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