It’s 1:17 a.m. and he just went to sleep. Finally!!! I succeeded in outlasting my nephew. 5 minutes prior, he was playing on the phone. Then he was looking around the house. I thought I could cajole him to sleep an hour ago, so I started playing Disney Lullabies on Spotify. They did not work; rather, I was enjoying them and was close to falling asleep myself. I wondered how long it would take this kid to fall asleep; he was more interested in playing as if was daytime. Granted, he only woke up at about 10 p.m. So, it was probably unreasonable/selfish for me to wish sleep on him so quickly.
Before I even had his time, I was occupied with my own things. I was on the phone with the “Mrs.” (who fell asleep on me) and I was writing a programme. I heard his voice chattering away upstairs with grandpa, just as the happy kid that he always is. In my mind, I thought that an infant should be exhausted after a few hours of chattering, playing with toys, watching TV and everything else. Apparently not. Why wasn’t this boy sleeping??? After all, I changed him (little man was sitting comfortably in his soiled diaper), fed him, changed him again – he barely waited 15 minutes before he did his business again – and gave him a spare phone to play with.Yet, he was not sleeping. He had outlasted almost everyone in the house and his eyes were still bright as the sun. I could have sworn he would be up for the next 2 – 3 hours. I was determined to hang with him.
About 3 years ago, I was a different person. Although I always loved kids, I had a moment where I re-evaluated my desire to have any. My niece was barely a week old and I remember leaving my brother’s house after midnight. The little princess was still wide awake, playing. Thank God she was not the crying type, at least not when I was there. I saw the exhaustion on my brother’s face, yet he was up with her. He clearly needed sleep – I know because I was not raising a child and it was the need for sleep that made me head home. On my way back, I decided that I was not going to have any children. If that was the kind of exhaustion I would face? I was not about that life…so I thought. Obviously, I snapped out of that thought a few days after. Seeing my older nephew love and want to care for his new sister made me want that for myself some day.
Back to 2021, I’m still struggling with making the boy sleep. I increased the volume of the lullabies a bit – didn’t work. Dude grabbed the phone and was pressing away. I put him in the bed, with his pacifier, he started fake-crying until I picked him up. I laid down throw pillows for him to sleep on while he had the phone. That did not work either. He preferred to sit, play, and babble. I decided to give him some water, which he took. I must have done something good or funny because he started smiling as I gave him water. Either that or he was laughing at my sorry attempt to force him to sleep.
Finally, I gave up. I put him on the throw pillows on the floor and went back inside the room to grab his blankie. I returned to the living room only to find the giddy and chattery kid quiet. He did not have the phone in his hands anymore and his arms were spread apart. With the pacifier still in his mouth, he was slowly sleeping. This took literally 30 seconds, max. I could not believe my eyes! I stayed motionless for a few more seconds to see if he was playing me. No, he wasn’t. This is the same kid I tried to rock to sleep, bribe with food, water, phone, 2 clean diapers, toys. He just fell asleep effortlessly.
What’s the point of this rant? There are some things that you do not need to force. Think about that thing you’re trying to achieve. You may not need to force it. It will come at the right time. At times, we try to influence results with our actions. We may become frustrated when the situation does not respond to our efforts. I did all I could to get my nephew to sleep but he had his own time. It was when I did nothing that he fell asleep. Do not get me wrong, laziness and complacency will not achieve the results faster either. Still do your part (I think I mentioned that before). Doing my part was feeding, changing diaper, giving him toys to play with, etc. Who knows maybe he would have just gotten cranky if he was hungry and thirsty while I wanted him to sleep? Do your part but remind yourself not to force anything that you do not have the power to physically bring into actualization.
Again, remember that “luck” is where opportunity meets preparation. Meaning you still need to prepare. That said, stay safe and healthy.
RANTS FROM THE PRIVILEGED SEAT 