Rollin' rollin' rollin'

While at BlogHer, I got a text message from the hubby that said something like, "Nate just flopped from his belly to his back. He looked confused. It was so funny."  To which I - as your normal female/mother-type-person - responded something like, "Flopped? What do you mean flopped? Do you mean, like, he ROLLED OVER?  As in ROLLED OVER?  Like huge milestone ROLLED OVER???"  I think the hubby's response to this was something along the lines of, "Um, yeah, like that."

He rolled over and I missed it because I was in NYC with a bunch of other women who like to type things and post them on the intarwebs.

Then today, it happened again.  The difference now is that the hubby understands the significance of such things and properly punctuated his text:

"Nate's rolling from back to tummy! He did it twice!"

I.e. I MISSED SOMETHING ELSE.

Gah.  Is this the heart of being a working mom?  Missing milestones?  Being allowed to stay home for six/eight/twelve/fifteen/however many weeks, only to have the big stuff happen in the one day you do something else or during your first/second/whatever week back at work?  Does it mean writing yourself a sticky note so that you remember to add it to the baby book when you get home - and then remembering that you probably didn't write down the front to back rollover from earlier in the month? 

Then thinking, "I hope the sticky note doesn't fall off my dayplanner in my purse" and then thinking, "Well, at least I wrote this blog post; that'll help me remember."

My blog post will help me remember to parent.  Sonofa&*$%&T@$.

No.  My son reminds me to parent.  When I wake up on a day "off" and I see his face, I don't need reminding that I'm a parent (NB: being a parent means not having a day off without "off" being in quotes).  When I get home from work and see his little-but-getting-bigger-every-day face, I am reminded just how much I'm a parent.

And I know there'll be moments I'm there for while the hubby is at work.  Or moments we're both there.  And it feels selfish in a way since I did get to carry Nate for forty weeks and feel the flutters and kicks and talk to him when the hubby couldn't.  So it really only seems fair that Nate now bestows some special moments on his daddy, like there's catching up to be done.

But it still sucks to miss stuff... although I can't imagine there's a way to miss nothing.  You're bound to miss something at some time, so I should get used to it.

I just don't want to miss the first steps.  Crawling, I could deal.  But walking?  I hope I'm there.  I hope the hubby is there, too.  But this kid has his own agenda.

So, Dear Nate: Please do not take your first steps until Mommy AND Daddy are both there to see it.  And until we've moved the coffee table with deadly corners out of the living room.  Thank you.

Comments

[Liza]

Aww!! I've heard other parents say that their kids' faces are like, "WTF?" right when they roll over! I'm sorry you missed the first one, but it still must be so fun to see him grow. I can't wait to see Sailor roll! We finally see her tomorrow morning after 5 days!!! AHHHH!