These are my reflections on working as a team in our parenting. We’ve been having so much trouble with our son who’s not a good sleeper,. He’s back in a pattern of bedtime resistance, and it’s just so frustrating.
Working as a Team
The other morning morning, when I was getting to sleep in a little later than usual, my husband came into the bedroom at 630 AM. He was so peppy. He said, “Hey, I have an idea about our son. Believe it or not, I tried SIGH, SEE & START. When I did that, it helped me think of this idea.”
He started going on and on about the idea and, and how he had really been seeing what our son is acting like. He shared what he thought our son needed at bedtime. His idea was different than anything in any of the sleep books. It was based on him noticing the way that our son had responded to something his grandfather had tried.
My response was “Oh, it’s great, honey. But can I please have some coffee before we talk about this?” Over that much needed coffee, I reflected on the rough week we’d had with our son’s sleep. We tried my husband’s idea, and we’ve actually been getting somewhere.
I think it’s interesting the way leadership works. When you are working together with another caregiver, or a co-parent, it’s so easy to fall into a pattern where one parent is in the lead. We think that the lead parent, the default parent, knows about what to do, and the other one doesn’t. And that’s not always fair.
I love the way SIGH, SEE & START shakes that up. You don’t have to be the parent who took the child’s development classes: you just SIGH, SEE & START. Both parents can be actively engaged.
I love the way leadership shifts, it makes our family life so much more interesting. Sometimes I’m in the lead; sometimes my husband is in the lead. Sometimes we are leading together.
This week I was just done. I was burnt out with this issue. It was perfect timing that my husband to let my husband be the lead parent and to support his leadership.
Disclaimer: This article represents general education and does not constitute medical advice. My ideas are mine alone.
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