Euphoria. Relief. Worry. Tiredness.
A rotating theme of Fatherhood, rolling on a constant loop. How on Earth do people do this with one child, let alone those with twins?! Tommee Tip-me over the edge at 4am when it took me 15 minutes to realise the ‘perfect prep machine’ had been turned off at the wall. Another sleepless night with a baby who would. Not. Stop. CRYING! That saying of “what on Earth do I do with it” playing over and over; no matter how many times we fed him, burped him or cuddled him, he would not settle.
Then that euphoric moment lights up above my head like an incandescent light build, flicking and fuzzing away… The Car. 4:30am driving down the A46 towards Lincoln, dodging Hedgehogs and badgers like a pro, he finally fell asleep. Absolutely brilliant. We pulled over into one of those lay-bys littered with KFC wrappers and used Johnnies, turning the engine off the Red Mist (Honda Civic with 'sport' body trim/1.6 Diesel engine), and we all got some well earned rest. Never knew how comfortable a small 5 door hatchback could be, using one of the Tommee Tippee insulated bottle bags as a pillow, we easily got a solid 2 hours. The highlight of it all was we managed to sneak in a Maccies on the way home; literally a perfect start to the day.
All was forgotten when we returned home, although the house looked like Taz had paid us a visit. It kind of felt like returning home after an 18 hour flight, achey and sore with a hint of knackered thrown in for good measure. Fortunately, the little man was still asleep in his car seat, which for those who didn't no, you can't leave them in for too long. Dam. The military operation of getting him out gently and quietly began, neither one of us wanting to make a mistake... sweat now dripping off the wifes forehead as if she had seen a tray of Dunkin Donuts on the kitchen side and then it happened. Her phone alarm goes off. Really? A phone alarm. You're on Maternity Leave!! Laugh or cry; laugh or cry...
One thing this experience did teach me is no matter what, there is always a solution to the crying. There is always SOMETHING they want, and you learn to know what that something is. So next time the cuddles and snuggles don’t console them, don’t struggle on; try and think about what made them happy before. Stay positive because it will end, it will get better and you will start smashing it.
You’ve got this Dads, mother’s have their ‘intuition’, and we have our positivity – you can’t beat it.