Rats, Mosquitoes, and Teething

So my original idea for this post was that I would compare the purposeless nature of rats and mosquitoes with painful teething.  As my daughter screams her lungs out, very angry and upset, I wonder why God made the process so painful.  I thought a good comparison would be rats and mosquitoes, because what human can find use for them?  But upon a very cursory Google search, I found the answers to both inquiries within 30 seconds.

Rats are scavengers and are important to the animal kingdom, and well... we humans exploit their existence via scientific testing and our own personal gain.  So there goes THAT comparison.

Then, I looked up mosquitoes.  And though it took quite a while to get to their purpose, it seems that they pollenate some plants.  And well, I do believe in breathing oxygen and the more we cut down these darned plants, the less likely we are to be breathing oxygen (a joke, sort of!)

And in the same vein, I've had to find the purpose to painful teething at the seventh degree of separation.  It surely isn't the pain in my daughter's eyes that could serve the purpose.  Certainly my daughter has done nothing wrong and doesn't deserve this pain.  So maybe the pain is for me to suffer any wrong I've done.  But that theory is just ill-fitting.  I don't believe God has such a direct "tit for tat" nature.  Yet, maybe the pain is to test the parents and those around the child, to keep their cool.  It is, if you will, the taking off of the training wheels to up the anti when puberty and hormones strike.  Tim and I do have our moments when we disagree as to the method for calming our child and curing her pain.

But, after a particularly grueling night, during which I worked on my dissertation while she slept, and then unfortunately was called to "calming down baby" duty immediately upon lying in bed, I found the answer.  NOTE:  I said after a particularly grueling night.  This morning was a gift.  I know, corny, but it was.  She cried for almost 2 hours straight - 4am to 6am.  Finally, I got her to calm down and she and I laid in bed and, I feel, had a conversation.  She chewed on her toy, babbled, and cooed.  I tickled her a little bit and smothered her with kisses.  And she let me because she was exhausted.  She looked directly in my eyes and smiled her big, wide smile. We were both tired, but during that half hour, she let me know that she understood: it was not my fault that these teeth hurt.

Yet, who knows.  Tonight, she may scream and cry and look at me as if to say, "Why?"  And for mornings like these, it may not make it better, but may at least cancel out.

Ode to the Mini in my Life

Almost eight months ago

I sat in the hospital bed

Awaiting a new being in my life

I knew parenthood would be different

I had heard it would be glorious

and I longed for all that you would teach me

For as I shape out a place for you in this life

and continue on my journey to be a healthy

Christian, wife, professional, student, artist and friend

I have learned many things

There is an enormous amount of things that can be done in only ten minutes

I know this because I boil each of your bottles for ten minutes

Hair, laundry, makeup, reading you a book, packing lunch - each task takes ten minutes or less

You love the sound of goofy words

What words are goofier than the names of our Country's states?

We focus on, and sing about, a new one each day - today was Mississippi - doesn't get any sillier!

If I need to relax during a day of stress

I literally need only think of your smile

And like the Energizer Bunny, I'm ready to keep on keeping on

The best sound a car ride has to offer

Is the sound of you babbling to your toy octopus

I do not listen to the radio - you're the best radio personality I know!

Your eyes are the most amazing part of your body

I can transfer trust to you, just by gazing at you,

and when I watch your eyes, I can see all that you learn about the world around you

And while many others mark down every baby's milestone

I can't quite seem to pinpoint the MOST important one

because each day you grow more amazing in my sight 

I am told I will miss you at this age

that I should track everything so I will have great memories

But the best memories are those I make each moment with you as you learn and grow

It isn't so much that I have made you the center of my life

Instead, you made a way to the center of my heart

and there you'll always be