Parenting

Since when did we jump off the wagon and allow Dillon to parent herself? For the past couple of nights, we have not seriously put Dillon down for her 3pm nap b/c she cries and cries and then when we go get her, she is smiling. So we say to each other, "I guess she doesn't want to sleep." And we carry on...until around 5pm when she is clearly just exhausted...she is still interested in being with us (obvi) but her eyes are all puffy and tired looking and she's just overtired.
Oh, wait...I know when we decided to let Dillon govern herself. When Greg decided that he can't listen to her cry.
I have of course come to my senses since then and lay down the law with Greg. Dillon does not get to decide whether or not she wants to go down for a nap. She can cry for the entire hour if she doesn't want to nap, but she is going into her crib from 3pm - 4pm. Sooner or later, she will understand that that is naptime.
Hello? Genius that I am. She is getting older now and with that, she is more interested in being with us and being entertained than left alone in her crib to sleep. And now that she is older, her cries are getting louder and more varied. She cries all different kinds of cries to try and get us in there. I ignore. Greg is pained.
Yesterday, she cried for about 15 minutes, but felt like an hour to Greg since she usually only protest cries for about 2 minutes. He was all upset. I could've cared less, really. I know she needs her naps so I don't even hear her cries. My response to him was, "then go next door to the Perlmutter's house. We are not going in to get her." and lo and behold, she went right to sleep.
Therein lies the difference between mothers and fathers. Mothers love their children and want to do what's best for them even if it pains us. Fathers, on the other hand, are weak and just want their children to be happy all the time and will do anything to achieve it. Smiling and happy, which is why you will see at malls and outdoor recreation areas, kids with their fathers usually have chocolate stains on their fingers, lollipop stains around their mouths..and they are wired and crazed....
Again, last night, Dillon cried when I put her to bed. Cried and cried which is unusual for her. Greg says, "Should I go in and rock her a little?" I replied, "Only if you want to still be rocking her to sleep when she is 35 lbs plus..." Yeah, that made him reconsider.
However, I did run in there to see if maybe she was still hungry. Held her for a bit and then put her to bed. And that was that. :oD