My 7 month old daughter is an absolute joy. She is quick to laugh and loves to play. It’s so fun to watch my little darling explore the world with energy and enthusiasm. Every person and thing she discovers is met with a huge smile. She is nothing short of an angel. Even angels have their moments though.
Three times a day my sweet daughter is transformed from giggles and glee to cries and frustration. Any parent knows the personality shift that occurs when nap time has arrived. Exhaustion rears its ugly head and the monster comes out. Because I realize what is happening, I scoop the little grump into my arms, soothe her and lay her down for some much needed shut eye. An hour or two later her lids flutter open and I’m graced with a huge smile. The monster has been contained and my angel has returned for action.
My daughter’s nap cycle actually has me thinking a bit about people in general. I’ll tell you what I mean. While shopping the other day, I encountered a retail clerk with a nasty disposition. Her eyes shot daggers when I asked a simple question. She huffed and she puffed as she went through the seemingly enormous task of looking up a price. The old me would have looked at this woman and thought “what a jerk (or possibly something else)!” I would have dismissed her as a bad apple not worthy of my time. Now that I’m looking at the world through a mother’s eyes, I see something different. Perhaps what I used to see as a jerk is really an angel in need of a nap.
Let’s think about this. I doubt anyone would argue people are more tired these days. They are tired in the physical and mental sense. Isn’t it logical adults would experience the same personality transformation as a baby in need of some rest? Seems possible to me. Because it’s possible, I’m now rethinking how to react to adults who are behaving badly. When a baby is exhibiting signs of exhaustion, do we hate the baby or start calling him/her names? Do we get mad at the baby and start looking for ways to get even? Do we wash our hands of the baby and find ourselves not on speaking terms? Of course we don’t. We are better than that. We know it would be wrong to take that baby’s actions as a testiment to who he/she is. The mother in me is starting to wonder if I’ve been too quick to judge those among us who are no longer in diapers.
Let’s say I’m on to something here. Now what? It’s not like we can lull other adults in a rocker and then tuck them into bed. Attempting to do so might actually cause legal problems. We can challenge ourselves to look at situations a bit differently though. I know when my daughter is tired, a smile and a little warmth from me helps take some of the edge off. If I raise my voice or join her on Team Irritable, the game is lost to both of us. How hard would it be to refrain from thinking the worst of someone initially and reacting to that hasty judgment? If you were having a bad day or ugly moment, wouldn’t you want others to wonder if you are going through a difficult time versus assuming you are mean, rude or stupid? I know I would.
Back to my daughter. My life is so much brighter because of Olivia. The proud mom in me believes Olivia touches other people’s lives too. If someone wrote her off as a brat or a bad seed because they encountered the tired monster, they’d miss out on the joys of my well rested angel. What a shame that would be. Rethinking the reasoning behind people’s behavior makes me optimistic there really are more angels in this world than demons. It’s my goal not to overlook a single one of them. Even the tired ones.
