Daily Routine

When Connor was four weeks old we had a long, terrible night. As I watched the sun come up through bleary, bloodshot eyes, I decided to consult the bible of babycare, otherwise known as What To Expect The First Year. I had received it at Connor’s baby shower and my first reaction was to take offense. After all, I already had a child, thank you very much, and wouldn’t be needing a little advice manual obviously written for beginners. Then I wore the cover off by thumbing through its wise pages on a daily basis. On that particularly traumatic morning after that particularly frustrating night, the bible, as expected, had an answer for me, but I wasn’t gonna like it. Apparently, all of Connor’s behavior pointed to one diagnosis: colic. Which usually lasts twelve weeks. Which was going to be eight weeks longer than I could go without drinking bleach. The one tiny ray of light was a suggestion that relief is sometimes found for colic babies by adhering to a strict bedtime routine every night. I started that night and never deviated from it for the next six months, even playing one lullaby tape so many times that it turned to static tape dust. But the monotony paid off in blissfully quiet nights and was well worth the trade. In Amy Hest’s Kiss Good Night, Little Bear isn’t going to let Mama off the hook until he gets the smooch he’s come to expect. Maybe he had colic, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Good-Night-Amy-Hest/dp/0763607800

http://www.amyhest.com/