[Gotta love 'Old Blue Eyes'! For those of my generation who don't know Frank Sinatra- You are really missing out!]
I'm beginning to realize that everyone has their own routine for everything. Each person's own routine makes the most sense to them. There have been times that watching someone do something a different way has driven me crazy. For instance last week when Ryan had a diaper rash one of us would change him and the other would hold him still and try to comfort him. When Jay was changing his diaper I was forced to watch him do everything differently than I would. I had to turn my head and fight the urge to tell him he was doing it all wrong. Really I think it comes down to priorities. My priority is for Ryan to be uncovered and uncomfortable for the shortest amount of time possible. My way includes having a diaper, wipes and diaper cream open and ready to go before I even make the baby lie down. After he is all cleaned up and schmeared with cream his diaper goes on immediately. If he is upset or antzy I pick him up before I even put his pants back on. Cleaning up is secondary and will happen when Ryan is happy again. Now I know that Jay doesn't want Ryan to suffer any longer than necessary either, but he just doesn't do things the same way. I think he is more task oriented in his diaper changing technique. 1)Baby needs to be changed, take off his pants and diaper. 2)Dirty bottom->clean. 3)Old diaper is dirty, wrap it up. 4)Baby is naked, put on cream and new diaper. 5)Pants are off, put pants on. 6)Baby is high, put baby down on floor or hand him to mommy if he is crying. 7) Changing table is a mess, throw away diaper and put cream away. 8)Hands came within millimeters of poopy, wash hands! See the difference?
Another hallmark of "my way" is efficiency. For example if Ryan has a dirty diaper and it's close to bed time I will change him into his jammies since I already have his pants off. This goes the other way too, of course I will change his diaper when I am putting his jammies on. This makes complete sense to me. It's hard for me to believe that it's not something others would automatically do. Why doesn't everyone think like me? Life would be so much easier if they did!
If having a baby has taught me anything about other people it is this- People do things differently; Not necessarily better or worse, just different. Recognizing this appears to be the easy part. Accepting that my way is not the only (or at least the best) way is proving more difficult;-)
5 comments:
Tom changes diapers like that too (down to the immediately disinfecting hands thing) and it drives me INSANE. So you are not alone. ;)
Mommy's way is always the right way, of course. But if daddy's way buys mommy some time to herself then there is no better way than daddy's! Hee hee!
Tom changes diapers like that too (down to the immediately disinfecting hands thing) and it drives me INSANE. So you are not alone. ;)
Mommy's way is always the right way, of course. But if daddy's way buys mommy some time to herself then there is no better way than daddy's! Hee hee!
And this has just come up with the baby? Poor Dave, I nitpick him about everything already. I swear its a good thing that I have such a extremely laid back boyfriend. I must be possibly the most annoying girlfriend ever to exist.
In my defense though - some of the nitpicks are things like "You have to put cups/bowls UPSIDE DOWN - like this - in the dishwasher for them to get clean." How does he not realize this!?
And to Dave's defense - other nitpicks are "Why don't you have your clothes organized like mine in the closet?" This becomes even worse because one of his (valid) reasons why they aren't is that I take up twice the amount of space in closet and he doesn't have room!
We had differences in routine, etc. before, but what has come with the baby is realizing that he is not WRONG. His is just DIFFERENT. What has come with growing is being able to let him do it his way. Sometimes I just can't stand it and I bug him. I am getting better at just letting it go, of course this does not always come without cringing;-)
Oh, My. I had this conversation with Mr. Flinger last night. Wow. Good timing, eh? I try not to say how to do it because I don't want him to stop helping out, but my way IS much more effecient. Guess it's 'cause I'm home with her all day so I know the little things to help out the process.
And, I just posted a "how to troubleshoot a baby" today. I guess it's kinda similar to this, except it's the steps I take to "fix" her. Also very timely!
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