For the past few weeks, Jessie’s been complaining about stomach cramps and a loss of appetite due to anxiety. Now that we have a baby, having a normal meal is out the window. Meal time is divided up into turns. Jessie will eat first while I take care of the baby. Then, we’ll switch so I can get a bite to eat. And then we’ll switch back again so she can finish up. This makes for a very intense, fast-paced setting.
As a person who eats everything extremely quickly, I’m in my environment. But for someone like Jessie, who actually likes to take her time to enjoy a meal, she’s a fish out of water. Being constantly distracted by the baby’s cries and rushing to finish her meal has caused her to develop stomach cramps that make her unable to eat much.
The general term for this is nervous stomach anxiety. I used to have this growing up as a kid. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I’d also get nervous eating at someone else’s house or eating lunch in the school cafeteria. I couldn’t do it. I’d feel sick to my stomach and want to throw up.
Waiting in line to get my lunch was pure torture and even on the days that I actually made it all the way through to purchasing something to eat, I’d just end up throwing it all away. Thankfully, I managed to grow out of it and never had the embarrassing moment of actually throwing up in front of everyone.
This past weekend, we decided to go out for brunch on Sunday. In other words, we decided to go looking for trouble. The second we stepped foot into the restaurant, Caitlyn started up an extremely loud and violent-sounding scream that probably made people think we were beating up our baby.
I decided to take her outside and push her around in the stroller to calm her down, but after about ten minutes, it was apparent that wasn’t working. Finally, I had to hold and bounce her up and down continuously in order for her to stop crying. Jessie, meanwhile, was coming in and out of the restaurant to check up on how we were doing and to take my order.
About 20 minutes and a strained right arm later, it was my turn to go eat and her turn to wheel the baby around. The wife, I noticed hadn’t eaten much of her meal, and as I rushed through mine, I realized just how she felt. My stomach was queasy and I had a slight urge to throw up. It was the school cafeteria all over again.
I was extremely anxious, kept wondering how the baby was doing, and wanted nothing more than to escape and get the heck back to our apartment where our baby’s cries wouldn’t drive anyone crazy but ourselves.
On the way back home, I told the wife that I didn’t want to go back out again for a long time. But I know that’s not the solution. The need for time and space apart from the baby has become so apparent that Jessie’s been forced to call back the Un-Super Nanny for assistance. I guess any concerns about how our baby will fair in the care of another is overridden by the need for sanity.
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| Playing with sister Maggie |
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| Who's the cutie pie?! |
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| Snoozing big time |
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| Walking the baby and eating an ice cream cone |
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| Happy baby, tired mommy |
What you need is a 保姆, a babysitter. Someone to take your kid for half the day (at their place) on weekdays while you are working. It is much easier to tolerate your kids (at any age) when you don't have to see them all the time. It's like being with the wife. You love the woman, but you can't stand her 24/7. We all need our space. Trust me, this is the solution to your anxiety. Jessie can go back to work where she will feel more relaxed not having to worry about a small baby all the time.
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