Noises in the Night

Mayuki woke up and cried last night. Yuriko was right on it, but it still took a while to settle her. Fortunately, because Yuriko was right on it, I didn’t need to wake up properly, so I got back to sleep quickly once Mayuki settled.

At the moment, we seem to be working on a pattern where I sleep roughly normal times, and Yuriko sleeps when Mayuki does, which means that Yuriko sleeps large portions of the day as well. So far it’s working quite well. The trick, of course, is that, at least once I start teaching again, I need to be awake during the day, so that I can work, while, as Yuriko is not working, that is less critical for her. I end up doing a fair bit of housework and much of the shopping, but the night is largely being left to Yuriko.

I actually feel a bit guilty about that, but that’s silly. While it’s important that Yuriko gets enough sleep, it’s not important that she gets it at night, at least not at the moment. (We’ll have to work on that as time goes on, but it’s too early yet.) I, on the other hand, both need enough sleep, and need it at night. Working is also a necessary part of child-rearing, after all.

I suspect that one of the most important qualities in the next few weeks, months, and years will be flexibility; adapting quickly to changes in Mayuki’s situation. Attempts to set up clearly defined plans are likely to fail, and have lots of bad consequences.