Flexibility is the name of the game for any full-time parent. It's a must. My own flexibility (and sanity) is being put to the test this week while our basement gets remodeled. The remodel will last several weeks. I survived this first week...barely.
The construction crew works all day, making a lot of noise. There's nowhere in the house where you can escape the constant pounding, sawing, drilling and all the other noises associated with a construction site.
This means that I'm trying to take care of my son with all the commotion of the basement remodel. It makes my job twice as hard.
The biggest obstacle I'm facing is nap time. There's too much noise for him to sleep in his crib. There is nowhere else to go to put him down for his daily nap.
My solution? I drive him around for an hour. It sucks! Not only is it mind-numbingly boring, but my car is eating up gas like crazy. I also can't get anything done while I'm driving. No blogging. No writing. No chores. Nothing.
I must add, however, that as bad as driving him around is for his naps, it sure beats having him crabby in the evening, and possibly too tired to sleep well at night. Small price to pay for a little peace a night.
If this isn't enough, he's also getting some molars in. Any parent knows that teething is bad enough, but molars seem particularly bad. So on top of the basement construction going on, he has little temper tantrums throughout the day.
The point of this post is that you just have to go with the flow as a parent. You can't fight it. Trying to fight will only make things worse. You have to be flexible.
When things get bad, I always tell myself that it's only temporary. The basement will be finished and he'll be able to take normal naps again. He will stop teething. He will grow out of having temper tantrums. Nothing lasts forever.
But even when these current challenges disappear, new ones will come to light. That's where flexibility comes in. You never know what will come next.
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