new sheriff in town

I wanted to stay at the restaurant longer so I could talk with old friends. She wanted to go home.
I wanted to watch TV sitting down on the couch. She wanted me to stand up.
I wanted to eat dinner. She wanted to be bounced.

The conclusion to these three situations: We went home, I stood up and I waited to eat while I bounced her.

There is no doubt about who the boss is in the Brown household these days. What Genevieve wants, Genevieve gets. And why shouldn't she? She's 5 1/2 weeks old and cannot do anything on her own. Polly and I were the ones who decided to have a baby. And we understood that putting our needs secondary to our child's needs would be one of the results. So we're not complaining at all.

Even though my life is impacted, I would be ignorant to think that Polly and I have been impacted equally. In fact, when people ask me how I'm doing with the adjustment of having a baby to look after, I often joke about how it's been easy on me and that Polly's the one they should talk to.

I mean, let's break it down: I sleep all night, go to work, come home, eat dinner, care for the baby, hand her off to Polly whenever she's hungry, help put her to bed and relax on my own before I go to bed again. Polly, on the other hand, wakes up a couple of times of night (thankfully Genevieve is a good sleeper) and then spends almost all day with the baby with no real reprieve. So, yes, my life has been affected since Genevieve was born. But Polly's life has been invaded.

Think about it. Even if we set aside the fact that Genevieve took over Polly's body for nearly 42 weeks, Polly's life has still be drastically altered. Here are a few examples:

1. Polly's Job

Polly went from being a "full-time" teacher, putting in 40 hours a week, to being a FULL-TIME mom, putting in 168 hours a week. Aside from working more hours, she doesn't get an un-interrupted lunch break, sick time, vacation time or any of those other benefits (though the benefit of raising our child far outweighs those benefits anyway, as she herself would tell you) while making 100% less for her salary.

2. Polly's Diet

Polly is more restricted as a nursing mom than she was as a pregnant woman. Polly cannot eat anything high in fiber, anything spicy, anything acidic (even tomato sauce) or anything with dairy. The dairy is a tough pill for Polly to swallow because ice cream remains her favorite food. I told her I will give up dairy with her (for the most part) once our current dairy products are gone. We tried a dairy-free ice cream the other day. One word: yuck. Polly also loves cereal. She now eats it with soy milk. She doesn't mind it so much in the cereal, but she cannot drink a glass of it. (For some reason this reminded me of when Forestdale Elementary School began serving flavored milks. I tried the grape one. Disgusting.)

3. Polly's Routine

Polly is an incredibly routine-oriented person. This does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with a newborn baby. Genevieve decides when mommy can eat, sleep, take a shower, etc.

These are only three examples of the many ways Genevieve has impacted Polly's life. And after all this, Polly says she feels bad when I take the baby when I get home from work because I worked all day. What? Compared to what Polly's doing all day, I have it easy.

I will tell you one thing. After seeing what Polly has gone through already, I have a new-found appreciation for mothers everywhere. Most of all, I have a great respect and appreciation for the mother of my baby girl. I have always thought Polly was amazing. I never knew that I could think it any more than I already did. Then she became a mom. She's so incredibly amazing. I am so blessed.

So, you see, even though our lives have changed (and Polly's significantly more), one look at Genevieve reminds us why we would never trade it for a second.

There's a new sheriff in town. And Polly and I wouldn't have it any other way.