This morning, in order to give myself time to hang the laundry outside, I tried a new tactic with Jonah: I left him in his crib and listened to him on the baby monitor. (Usually, I put him in his sling and carry him outside. But with all the bending and stretching involved in hanging laundry--and Jonah still being so small--this hadn't proven a particularly comfortable arrangement for either of us.)
During the period I was gone, Jonah didn't cry exactly, but he did let loose a long string of very dissatisfied moans and whimpers. Heartstrings pulled. As soon as I was finished with the laundry, I made a beeline for the nursery, where I could tell my boy I loved him. I picked Jonah up, placed him in my lap, and received the biggest smile ever in the history of Jonah!
Oh, I wish I'd had my camera ready.
Unfortunately, now I feel doubly bad for having received such a wonderful reward in response to what essentially amounts to some (unintentional) motherly trickery. Alas! Sometimes the joys and pitfalls of motherhood are indistinguishable.
He was trekking you, "I'll be ok, a little fussing won't kill me. If anything, it will teach me to entertain myself. Thanks for doing the laundry, mom!" :)
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