That'll Learn Her

I was pretty sure that I would never be one of those parents that read all the books and tried to follow exactly what they said. I knew that I wouldn't try to do everything the "right" way and would instead just do what I felt was right. Maybe its because that's the way my mom says she did it, and I clearly turned out perfect, so it obviously wasn't the "wrong" way... right?! I knew I wouldn't be big on coddling, and whining really bugs me, so I knew I wouldn't be prone to giving into it. Maizey was only a few weeks old when I was discussing the whole being a mom thing with my friend Paola. We laughed when I told her that I'm pretty sure Maizeys first words would be "you're fine", because she hears it so often! Don't mistake that for a lack of love and affection because she seriously cleans up in that department, but more like she gets talked to and played with and read to and loved - but not coddled or babied. That sounds weird (especially now that I write it), because I KNOW shes a baby. But she is still treated like a person. When she cries on the floor for her toy, we help her to reach them, not pick her up, and its usually preceded with a "you're fine". See what I mean? This, in turn, has worked out in our favor. Maizey can be left to play with her toys by herself while I workout, while we make dinner, get the laundry done, sit on the computer reading blogs all day, *ahem* I mean, pay bills and research RESP's and Universities suitable for our angel, etc. She lays in her bed in the morning wide awake, talking to herself and I get a few extra minutes of sleep. She doesn't need our constant attention. So at times when she does need our constant attention (i.e days when she isn't feeling well), we hardly know what to do with ourselves and this demanding child. But that's another post for another day.
So, on to the point of this whole story. The point is, when she does cry out, I tend to ignore for the first few minutes to see if she will stop crying, or move on to playing with something else. But lately, shes been crying out a lot more. It all began when she started pushing and pulling herself around and its recently become much worse, its now when we put her down for her naps also. So I have been having a harder time ignoring her, because it turns out... she cries out for reasons like - she has backed herself under the couch... and cant get out. Or rolled over in bed and got her legs stuck out of between the bars... and cant get out. Or she has pushed herself behind the door in the bathroom and cant get her head turned around to see where to go (that, of course, only happens at the most inopportune time- me in the shower)... and cant get out. Some parents would rush to their child's rescue as quickly as they could, comforting them and picking them up. I, on the other hand, do exactly the opposite. I *usually* check to make sure she is actually OK first... and then run to grab my camera to get some pictures, or if I am lucky, a video. I got this video a few weeks ago! I think its priceless.



It almost sounds like she says "help" at the end! I can assure you, no one was hurt in the making of this video!