Commentary By Danielle Pelkey

The North Jefferson News



This past week I have officially done some of the toughest work as a mom that I have had to face so far.

My daughter, Raygan is five-months-old now and she is changing every day. I wasn’t prepared for how quickly they change and grow.

Since the day she came to this world I have been obsessed with getting her ears pierced.

I wanted everyone to know for sure that she was a girl and I just can’t stand when people think she’s a boy.

Granted, when Todd dresses her, it’s hard to tell if she’s a girl. It usually consists of an Auburn onesie and blue jean shorts.

This is just one more reason that this baby needed to get her ears pierced. Another reason is because they say that if you get them done while they are young, they grow up with them in their ears and they don’t mess with them and get them infected like a four or five-year-old would if you just got them pierced.

I know that not everyone agrees about getting a baby’s ears pierced, but if she decides that she doesn’t want them, she can just take the earrings out and the holes will grow up on their own. No harm done.

When Raygan was two months old, I backed off the issue because I didn’t want to put her through unnecessary pain, but about two weeks ago I thought about it again and decided this was something that I really wanted to get out of the way so that she wouldn’t have to worry about it when she’s older.

I told Todd that it was time, fully expecting him to laugh and say, “I already told you ‘no.’” But to my surprise he just said, “Okay.”

I got so excited that I went the very next day to Wal-Mart and got them pierced. I had to be prepared for whatever type of horrible screams and kicks and tantrums may be coming from my child in just a matter of seconds.

The worst part was when the lady told me that they have to do each ear separately instead of at the same time. I almost chickened out, but I really wanted to just get it over with.

Raygan held pretty still and the lady put the first earring in. It wasn’t bad at all. I was so happy I almost cried. Raygan cried for about five seconds and then she was fine. I was laughing because I had made such a big deal out of such a small thing, until the lady told me the second side is always worse than the first. Then I cringed.

She pierced the second side and what do you know? Raygan cried for about 10 seconds and was fine. Absolutely fine.

She was laughing and playing and even smiled for her picture with the lady that pierced them.

I was so happy that we decided to try to tackle yet another milestone in her childhood — sleeping in her own bed.

We had actually tried this two other times but failed at our attempts.

There is no way that you can half-heartedly attempt to make your baby sleep in their own bed. You have to get tired of being tired and then it just comes naturally.

In the past five months, no exaggerations, I have slept for three hours straight only twice. That’s right, I’m a walking zombie most days. This is one reason that we decided it was time to move Raygan on out and introduce her to her nursery.

I have only been doing this for two nights, but the amazing thing is that we are still getting about the same amount of sleep.

Don’t get me wrong, there is more crying, but I believe that by the end of the week, she may be sleeping half-way through the night. Last night, I even got two straight hours of sleep.

I have been dreading both of these events and they both have not been a bad as I had prepared for.

She even cut two teeth this week along with all of the other mayhem. Maybe when she’s a teenager, I’ll still be pleasantly surprised at how well she does.

Let’s hope.