FAA Report: Turbulence Ahead

Did you know that turbulence is the leading cause of non-fatal accidents to airline passengers and flight attendents? It is. Facts like these are helpful as I contemplate flying solo as a parent for the next few days.

The Monkey Mama left in a taxi this evening, just before the Monkey's bedtime. He waved bye-bye at the window, and then we went upstairs to get ready for bed.

We won't see her again until Wednesday, three nights from now. The only thing I dread is the anticipation of 5pm: the light failing, the Monkey cranky, and the Monkey Daddy worn out. It's rush hour, stay-at-home dad style.

But first things first: it was time to put the Monkey to bed.

I made up a bottle of breast milk, put it in warm water to heat it up, drew a bath, turned off most of the lights upstairs, undressed the Monkey, and put him in the bath. After bathtime, I dressed him for bed and took him to the strategically located bottle, by now warm next to the rocker. I cradled him in my arms...and dumped half the bottle onto my shirt.

Not so smooth. With our freezer supply of milk an untested quantity, and our supply of fresh milk extremely scarce, this was dumb. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to dump it on my shirt instead of on the Monkey, so I didn't have to change him. (But why not the presence of mind to screw the cap on tight, let alone to check it?)

The remaining 3 ozs was simply not enough milk to put the Monkey down for bed. So we went downstairs to the brightly lit kitchen, organized some more milk, and went back upstairs. I dimmed the lights again, and put on the Monkey's CD of bedtime music. Somehow, I had forgotten to put on the CD for the first attempt.

When he heard the first notes, he smiled. The CD is part of his nightly routine, and this routine was saving my ass. (Needless to say, dousing him with milk and then taking him downstairs into a brightly lit room has never been part of his routine...until tonight.) He took the rest of the milk and went down without a fuss.

The Monkey went down at 6:48 pm. Long may he sleep.