NIGHTLY WORKOUT

Rocking my baby to sleep every night is no picnic. You see, he inherited all my bad traits and quirks... including my inability to fall asleep fast. Besides, the kid is pretty much hyperactive... so he wants to stay up playing, watching tv and running around for as long as he can... so every night he puts on a very big fight before finally throwing in the towel.

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the fight of the century, In this corner we have the big, ugly and smelly dad, and in this corner we have the master of disaster, the kid ...ok guys lets get ready to ruummmbbbllleee! *sounds bell*

On average, it takes me from 30 to 45 minutes to win the battle. The fight starts with unstoppable crying cause he knows that once I get him into my arms, it's go time!

Off we go...


I start rocking him hard continously for about 15 to 20 minutes... during this time, there might be some more crying, some kicking, some hair pulling, or the use of the finger of death, which he inserts from time to time in my larynx causing great pain, discomfort and the possibility of chocking. But you must struggle on... and keep on rocking... your patience will be rewarded...

Round 2

After a good 15 minutes of hard rocking... the kid is falling asleep and yawning... yet he tries his best not to fall asleep... this time, he'll pull his own hair or start examining his hands or maybe trying to get a hold of his foot... now, it's time to move to a different darker location... closer to his crib... and keep on rocking.. gentlier this time... stopping from time to time... or accelarating the pace when needed...

Round 3

Now the kid starts toying with you... he pretends to be asleep... but he's not... he's waiting for you to put him in his crib to sit up and start jumping again... so you gotta be careful... more gentle rocking is needed... staying still for longer periods of time...

One.. Two... Three... he's down by knockout!

The kid has finally been beaten... and now lays asleep in your arms... you're sweating like a pig, your arms hurt, your back aches... and you know that you should just put him in the crib and walk away... and try to get some sleep yourself... but you don't... you look at the kid safely asleep in your arms... and you just want to freeze time... and hold him for another 10 minutes or so... and you don't want to let go... but then the kid moves and you realize that he needs his space to roll around... so you finally put him down to bed... and walk away with a smile... knowing that tonight you won't have any trouble falling asleep.