Held for ransom
posted on: 01:43 PM October 02, 2007
A-star and B-boy do not like bedtime.
We have a whole bedtime ritual: Bath, Bottle, Massage, Bedtime Story and Lullabye. Most of the time, we can't even get to the last page in the storybook before they realize it's bedtime and they start to cry. Just as an update, some days they hardly cry at all and other days, they REALLY cry. It's the kind of crying that makes you wonder what kind of hideous monster you've become.
Then the next morning, A-star and B-boy are all smiles. They still love you, even after everything you've done to them. It made me think, perhaps they are victims of Stockholm Syndrome. It's the syndrome where hostages begin to identify with their captors, because the captors can ultimately determine the fate of the hostages. Maybe that's why a child's love is unconditional; they somehow remember when their parents were their "captors".
Makes sense doesn't it? Babies are helpless: Parents feed them, clothe them, change them. As I said many times before, Babies can't even learn to sleep without us. Almost every waking moment my Wife and I have is devoted to the care of A-star and B-boy. Our only reward for a sleepless night of suffering is their bright, happy faces.
Now that I think about it... we're not in charge at all; we're the hostages!
