It was 12am last night and I was a mom on a mission.
My hubby and I had just finished watching a movie and (of course) I had to swing by the computer to check my email one last time before heading to bed…
That’s when I learned about the latest crib recall. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already! Something looked vaguely familiar. It was the simple lines, the curving arches, the “metal frame” causing potential harm…
IT WAS OUR HAND-ME-DOWN CRIB THAT MY VERY SWEET TODDLER BABY WAS SLEEPING IN RIGHT UPSTAIRS!!!! AHHH!!!
Watch out. With precious cub in danger, mama bear was on a mission. I snuck into the older boys’ room and snatched a pair of their “night vision” goggles. Then I headed down the hall to our Baby J’s room and snuck inside, going immediately to all 4′s (mind you, 32 weeks pregnant!), goggles on, crouching down to see the crib label on the underside of the bed. lol. It appeared to be *identical* to the one I saw online. I had to double check.
Out I went into the hallway, hollering to my hubby that, indeed, our crib was one of the recalled ones and could pose a strangulation hazard to our dear Baby J.
I could almost see a smile creep onto his face. You see, he’s a papa bear and I’m a mama bear. And mama bears take news of crib recalls a LOT more dramatically than papa bears (or at least they do in our household!)
In no time, I was back from the computer, with printed sheet in hand to verify the crib label. It was an identical match. I don’t know if I felt more satisfied at my sleuthing or more crestfallen at our new situation. How was I going to let my precious cub spend one more minute in that crib? Should we let him sleep to morning? Should we set up the pack ‘n play and move him mid-sleep? Should we set up some elaborate support structure to make it all right before going to bed ourselves? My mama brain was toiling…
When papa bear brought up a theme from the movie and began pontificating as to its meaning and symbolism. Heelllloooo Papa Bear!!!!!??? Did he not realize that one of our children was in grave danger (in my hyperbolic mama bear mind!)?????
And then it hit me how different we are as mama and papa bears. His job is not to worry. I’ve got that part under control to the nth degree. His job is to soothe my crazy mama bear emotions. His job is not to stress, but to assuage my stress. His job is to change the subject and get my mind off my fears.
I redirected our conversation back to our baby bear in danger. “Should I go set up the pack ‘n play?” was the first thought out of his mouth. Good Papa Bear. He was humoring me. Eventually as we watched the little cherub sleep, Papa Bear convinced me to let our cub rest and tackle the problem in the morning. Okay, okay–with a few extra prayers sent heavenward!!
Praise God for my Papa Bear! That’s how our marriage works. We give and take. We push and pull. We’re mamas and papas and we’re put on earth to help bring up our little baby bears and point them toward heaven the best way we know how.
And in the morning, we might just find out that our crib is not one of the models recalled. lol. Alleluia, alleluia! Lesson learned…
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