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February 5, 2003
I can't believe how much time has passed by since my last entry. Piper is coming up on a year old in three short weeks. She is a remarkable child -- with boundless energy. Sometimes that energy exhausts us, and sometimes it invigorates us and helps us feel young.
Since I last wrote there have been many changes in the personal life. For one thing, I changed jobs. I used to work part-time for a catalog company in downtown Chicago; now I am the Communications Manager for Northwestern University's School of Music. This is a full-time job, which meant that changes needed to happen for Piper's care. I had been working three days a week and taking care of her for two. (Laura's mom took care of Piper the other three days.)
Fortunately, Laura was able to work out a deal with her boss to telecommute two days a week, while her mom continued to watch Piper the other three days.This sounds good in theory, but there was an important difference: When I was home, my sole responsibility was Piper; when Laura is home, she must find time to get a full day of work in while still tending to a busy toddler's needs.
The result is that on my wife's work-at-home days, I get home as quickly as I can and tend to Piper while she works into the evening to get everything done. In warmer weather, I'll be able to take Piper out on outdoor adventures. But we are having a particularly brutal coldspell here in Chicago, and my daughter is "forced" to make do with the toys around the house ... not to mention Daddy's glasses, nose, mouth, and any food she can get her hands on to play with.
Sometimes we are just content to sit in the living room and watch the little one explore the home. She first started pulling herself up to a stand at Christmastime (10 months), and she has perfected this talent now, including incorporating letting go of her "stabilizer" (a couch or any surface about two feet off the ground) and swinging one hand out to look over her shoulder. She has also started holding on to the surface with one hand while she bends down to retrieve something she has dropped.
This was all remarkably perilous at first, and an over-protective parent would probably freak out and constantly rescue their child. Of course, in some circumstances this is very appropriate. But I'm determined (and I think Laura is too) to let Piper discover things on her own -- including the occasional fall and bump. It's all part of growing up. We don't put her in any real danger, but if we see that she may slip and fall on a rug or something, I'll get close enough to her where I can "spot" her while interfering as little as possible with her explorations. (Both Laura and I have made some remarkable "catches" as the girl does her own version of the "trust fall!")
One of the things I learned in my spell as a technology trainer was that people learn best from their mistakes. You don't truly understand what you've done wrong unless you are allowed to do that wrong -- and realize the consequences. That's the way I've been viewing this experience for Piper as she has learned to use her limbs more effectively. If she falls, bumps her head, and screams as if she has just come short of a tragic accident, we pick her up and comfort her for a short time. (Or, if we witnessed it and know that she is playing the drama queen, we may just assure her with some words like "you'll be fine" and let her be.) But every one of those little bumps and falls is another lesson learned for her. And a lesson for us as well. It's the very beginning of the letting-go process, isn't it?
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