This is the first in another new series here at Real Life, Real Laughter - the TestiMOMial: my homages to the things that have helped me navigate this parenting journey the most.
Today's testiMOMial is for a clunky, massive, brown, fuzzy part of my life for the past five years - our glider. This piece of furniture is akin to a rocking chair, but provides a more smooth back-and-forth movement experience. Commonly only found in nurseries, gliders are where you spend 95-98% of your time the first month home from the hospital. It's where you feed the baby. It's where you burp the baby. It's where you soothe the baby. It's where you catch some shut-eye when the baby falls asleep in your arms and you're terrified to put them down in their crib or bassinet or Fisher Price Rock and Play. It is where you might take the requisite "1 Month Old!" "2 Months Old!" etc. pictures.
Once the baby is a bit older, you will likely still feed them bottles from the glider, and begin to do some of your nighttime routine from its trusty seat, like reading books or singing a lullaby. Without realizing it, this large piece of furniture will worm its way into your heart and stay there, a memento of the days (and long, long nights) that have passed. It will serve as a reminder of how much your child has grown, as she suddenly fits differently in your lap versus your arms, and eventually in the seat by herself.
And it will remind you of nights along the way when your child wakes up from a nightmare or sickness, when you burst into their room to respond to their tears, scoop them up and rock them back to peaceful sleep. And then you stay there just a few minutes longer, because - well - they're so incredible to hold when they're asleep.
And it is where, perhaps like me, you will spend a large part of your next pregnancy, when nowhere else in your home is comfortable. And your now three-year-old daughter will worm her way in there next to you, barely fitting herself in the small space your large body leaves.
And it is where you will go through all the same motions with your second daughter - the feeding, rocking, burping and endless hours spent in its brown corduroy seat, feet up on the ottoman that glides with it, as you ease into life as a mother of two. You will let your older daughter snuggle into its seat with you and the baby, and it will become a fixture in your living room.
Wait, what? Yes. My living room. We live in a 2 BR apartment - there was no room for it in their bedroom once we put a twin-sized bed and crib in there! Not to mention, the baby didn't even sleep in that room until she was five months old. So yes, the glider took up residence in our living room. It actually took up most of our living room.
So just before Lila turned 1, we got rid of the glider.We no longer needed to feed her in it, and given her propensity for climbing onto, into and off of things, it seemed more like a hazard than necessary. Ah, space, glorious, space was ours!! It was amazing to see our hardwood floor again.
Then? The plague hit our home. In the past month, Lila has been sick non. stop. This poor baby has been waking up multiple times a night, and given that now she does share a room with her older sister, Evan and I have been in there multiple times a night to pick her up and soothe her as quickly as possible.
WHAT I WOULDN'T GIVE FOR MY GLIDER BACK! At least in its embrace I could rest while she did - now I find myself swaying while holding her by her crib - not restful at ALL. Or letting her fall asleep on my chest on the couch. Not comfortable for either of us, honestly. Or bringing her into my bed, which we NEVER did with Rebecca - because we had the glider. Sigh.
So get a glider, love your glider and don't ditch it too soon - it is really an amazing piece of equipment!
