Friday, May 23, 2008

We have a love/hate relationship

Oh, Doggie! How I love you! You give Mallory such comfort when she's upset or in a scary place. You are her best friend and there is no doubt. You are so special to her. I love you because she loves you. If you ever get lost, I will be so upset. You are special to me because you are special to her.

But, you are used as a tool of Mallory's manipulation. You get sent over the crib almost every naptime and bedtime...and waketime, for that matter, as Mallory's means to get Mommy or Daddy to come to your rescue. She cries over you, even at 3am when she decides she wants to give you another trip over the edge of the crib. She even got so upset yesterday over loosing you that she gave herself a bloody nose. A face full of blood can scare any mommy's heart, but it was, once again, another one of her manipulative tactics for getting me to come running quicker.

As I'm writing this, Doggie, you are now asleep in Mallory's chair as she's crying with great angst for you to be near. But, she tried to manipulate me again to come running faster to your aid. But no more. You've been asleep for about 40 minutes now while your young charge is crying as hard as she can for you to be rescued. I think you'll be snug in the chair for the remainder of naptime, though Mallory will not like that. Maybe she'll keep you safe in her arms the next time she goes to bed. Or maybe you'll sleep in the chair again. We'll see. But, I'm tired of rescuing you at 3am. I'm tired of putting you back in the bed with Mallory 4 or 5 times a night after lots of screaming and crying. No more, no more.

So, Doggie, may you endure the agony of hearing the screams from your friend. She's learning. As I am learning. We'll figure this out eventually.

Sincerely,

Mallory's Mommy

5 comments:

Mel H. said...

Poor Doggie...poor Mommy...these times will pass. Cole had Blanky who had a much worse fate, he was lost out a car window on the interstate.

Unknown said...

Hey, there's an idea...just throw him out the van window....

Sounds like it's the right call to me :-)

Anonymous said...

Hang in there, Melanie! I usually just lurk around your blogs (love the pictures and videos!) but I had to comment on this one! Good job--stick to your guns and you will help Mallory become a great sleeper!
Jennifer in New Orleans

Nicole said...

At first I thought you were talking about Cayman...I was so confused!! We can certainly relate. We have Dot at our house...

Courtney said...

Oh my gosh, I thought it was Cayman too. I was thinking, how in the world does Mallory toss Cayman out of her crib? What muscles that little girl must have. And how cool is it that you guys let Cayman sleep in Mallory's crib?! Take care, Mel. Good luck :)