Mumbles was away on a work trip last week so I was solo parenting — doing drop off and pick up from daycare, squeezing a work day in between, making meals, and caring for Declan without his very helpful hands to lighten the load. On the phone with him one evening, I observed (slash complained) that it was hard to enjoy parenting like this. I felt I was merely surviving and going through the motions (wake, feed baby, dress baby, dress self, make lunches, feed and play with dog, drive to daycare, drive to work, work, eat, work, drive to daycare, drive home, play with baby and dog, feed baby, bathe baby, put baby to bed, pray he stays asleep so I can eat and go to bed, then pray he doesn’t wake until morning and maybe long enough that I can squeeze in a shower) instead of relishing the the quality one-on-one time together, the cuddles, the funny faces, the fast crawling, the mouth-full-of-food smiles, splashing during bath time and general baby goodness.
Tag Archives: parenting
Hank Azaria on Fatherhood
“I am not a children kind of person. I don’t like kids, I don’t gravitate towards them, they make me nervous when I’m around them…I didn’t particularly like myself as a child. I feel about kids the way I feel about most people, which is most of them are annoying. Children are no exception — they’re just like annoying short people.” — Hank Azaria, on kids.
Hank Azaria can’t quite understand why anyone would want to be a parent. So, he starts filming a documentary asking his actor friends about being fathers and what it’s like raising kids. A short while into the project, though, Hank gets a big surprise. He finds out he and his long-time girlfriend will soon become first-time parents themselves. Well, that changes things a bit now doesn’t it?
The first episode in this web series is fantastic. It’s full of heartwarming nuggets of advice and insight from some very famous folks like Jim Gaffigan, Mike Myers, Rainn Wilson, and Kevin Bacon.
“It’s a tradeoff; you get the joy and the love, but you also get the worry.” — Bryan Cranston, on becoming a parent. (as if we couldn’t love him any more — his interview is totally endearing.)
What’s the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you about being a parent?
Stick Girl JAM 