Future Parenting Expert

You guys, my child had the worst night ever last night... thus, mama and papa had the worst night ever. She's been handling the sleeping in her own bed thing all night long better and better, although Chris might disagree. But since our move about 2 1/2 weeks ago she's just been in a funk when it comes to going to bed at night. In her crib.

I'm sure she's having to adjust to a new space too. And she has a stuffy nose, cough, allergy thing right now. And her seventh and eighth teeth just popped through yesterday- and today she has a low-grade fever, but I am ready for her to be in her crib 100% of the night. No sneaking in at 3:00 or 4:00...Even if she is going to wake at night- I need my own bed.

Last night she was not having it. After sleeping from 7-9:15pm she would not go back down in her bed. Oh yes, I could rock her to sleep, but upon laying her down- heavens no. You'd have thought I was pulling her limbs off. Of course this is when Chris came home from praise team rehearsal, which made the screaming and yelling that much worse. Til 10:00pm. We were all in tears. Again. And it's been a year.

So, of course today I am trying to purchase, borrow, or download every parenting book recommended to me, in the hopes of learning how to deal with these meltdowns. I say that jokingly- sort of. I know there is only so much one can glean from a parenting book. And I know there are good books and bad books and books by those who are less than professionals on the subject.

Even though I'd like to buy all these books, our budget is pretty tight... so Camille and I just went to the local library. The Tyler, Texas library. It is still as terrible as it was ten years ago when I was in college here. Horrible. And I've wondered this before, but I'll pose the question again here: Why are libraries in the Northeast so much more cared for and updated and lovely than libraries here??

When we lived in upstate NY I truly enjoyed my library time. Some of the libraries were small and quaint. My favorite one in Glens Falls was amazing. Simply amazing. In Manhattan I often visited several of the libraries and even in Queens, but I won't even factor those into the equation, because, I know, it's New York...

The libraries in East Texas house the oldest books. I just went to the parenting section (lest I waste time searching for specific titles) and walked away with four books published before I was born. These are old books! Perhaps the newer titles never make it to the shelves and are forever on reserve and always in circulation... I don't know. But the building is smelly and the carpet is old and the people who work there are odd. Like, they haven't come out of that library since they walked in in 1989.

Anyway, I'm off to read, study, meditate and further learn how to parent this little girl well.

Seriously. If anyone can stay married to the same man, while parenting a child and no-one is killed or seriously harmed- it's nothing short of a miracle.