It ain’t a pot ‘o’ gold, I’ll tell ya’ that.

It’s sleep. Sweet, elusive, never-enough, sleep.

Elliot’s been having a hard time sleeping well lately. Or, rather, we’ve been having a hard time helping him into a good sleep pattern. So, we’re currently working on helping him get to sleep all by himself. We’re confident! Tired as boot-beaten cart-horses, but confident.

So, of course, that means that mommy and daddy are running on fumes most of the time, doping it up on coffee, sleeping on the floor in the nursery, or whatever other acts of despair we have to resort to. Oddly enough, it’s sort of reminiscent of bachelordom, except add a little boy you love more than the universe, and throw in a bunch of actual meaning and purpose.

Hmm. You know what? Now that I think about it–seriously, just now, as I’m writing this–that’s not just worth it–which it totally is–that’s pretty darn cool, too. Waking up a hundred times a night, droning around the apartment in circles, walking and rocking our tired and crying son; it’s mind-numbing, yes, but I’m actually glad to do it; we’re privileged to be able to do this for Elliot.

Wow. I need a moment to soak that in.

…

So anyway, this has reminded me once again of how many, and how conflicting, the views are among the “experts” about how to care for babies. Not just mere difference of opinions, mind you. Oh no, no, no. Because rarely do you hear, “To the best of our knowledge, based on the limited research we’ve done, this is how you should do <insert advice here>.” No, of course not. Instead, it’s always, “You absolutely must do <insert advice here>. Anything else will destroy your baby. In fact, even thinking about doing anything other than <insert advice here> will cause your baby to spontaneously combust into a thousand flaming fragments of poisoned confetti.”

This, of course, leaves the first-time parents who are earnestly seeking to do above all else what’s best for their baby–the worrying, researching, and sleep-deprived mothers and fathers–only frustrated and emotionally spent, falling back on the reciting of resigned old phrases like, “Well, we’ll just do our best; that’s all we can do.”

So, what action will we take? In the midst of the cacauphony of conflicting and advice-giving experts, what will we do?

We’ll just do our best; that’s all we can do.

-T