Last Saturday, a friend of from the East Coast came to California for an Awards Night Banquet. He and I aren't really close... but we have gone through some "good times" together. So we've bonded over the years. He really wanted to bring his wife with him...and he received his award. And as such, they wanted to fly their 4 month out with them. He asked me via email if I knew of any babysitters who can watch their kid for them during the 3 hour dinner/banquet/award presentation. I promptly said, "Yes... ME!!!!"
So here I was....with a 4 month old. She's on east coast time, so supposedly, she should be sleeping through the night. Right....WRONG!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness..... she did well for the first 2 hours, but around 9PM, for no reason whatsover, she started bellowing and screaming and hollering. Joyce tried to calm her down. Didn't work. All the techniques I used to quiet Nn and Sw down did NOT work. After about 20 minutes of torture (for the entire family, and the infant), I was going to call my friend to come pick her up. But his party ended at 10PM. I needed to come through for my friend. "C'mon!!! I'm a professional parent!!!"
Out of desparation.... I buckled the baby into the car seat and started to swing the car seat - all 30+ pounds. My arms ached. My back hurt. I was dripping in sweat. But the only thing that mattered was.... she stopped crying! Then slowly but surely, I laid down the car seat and started rocking her back to sleep. She wasn't asleep, totally, but she was calm.
Phew.......
Around 9:50, I strapped her into my car and drove her to the Hyatt and dropped her off at my friend's hotel. The only thing I told them was, "She woke up for a bit... I rocked her back to sleep."
I got home.... and Joyce said, "Thank you. Now I'm absolutely sure I do not want another one. Good night."
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