It was the fourth day in a row: At 4:30 in the morning, I was woken up by my 3-year-old screaming, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!!!” I went in, wondering what the need du jour would be. The issue today? She wanted socks. I should note that she went to bed with socks. She had taken them off.
Another morning, she coughed, and so her tummy hurt, and she needed a hug. Another morning, she took her blanket off and wanted it back on. I couldn’t help but think I was never going to get a full night’s sleep ever again.
But the next morning, I didn’t hear from from her until 7 a.m. Bliss.
I had to laugh.
This was yet another example of my daughter going through a phase, and I had been convinced it was never going to end. Another example of a time where I worried about how the rest of our lives would be affected, refusing to even consider that it was only a phase and we’d get past it.
I couldn’t help but reflect on our journey together thus far, and how many phases I once thought were permanent. But, every time, we got through. (Including the universal phase of newborn sleep deprivation!) At the time, no amount of being told it was a phase was enough, and I never thought I would survive. But I did.
When my daughter was a baby, she would always cry at bath time. She would always need to nurse after diaper changes. Her pacifier was her ultimate nap and bedtime companion. I am proud to say that none of these ring true anymore. I also remember a fun phase, shortly before I went back to work, where she practiced the torture technique of sleep deprivation on me once again. Lord knows, I thought I was doomed forever. I was not.
Now, we are in the midst of potty training. And negotiating the world through the eyes of a threenager. We are also awaiting the arrival of her baby sister. We will be going through many more phases for the two of them. Will I have the strength, humor, and wisdom to remember that this, too, shall pass? I sure hope so. Being able to see that this is not forever will certainly not give me more sleep, but it may give me a tad more serenity. As my friend told me when my daughter was only a few weeks old, “She won’t go to college doing that!”
