pink dahlia, Canon Digital Rebel XTi

The message “Ask for what you want” has been coming up a lot in my life lately. (Author and coach Mike Robbins wrote a wonderful piece about this in his latest newsletter. Truly inspiring!)

Isn’t it easy to complain about what we don’t have? Sometimes the solution is as easy as making a request and yet we often choose complaining over and over again about the same things… “I never have time for myself. I never get to go to my dance class. I don’t even have time to be sick! I never get to see my friends…” These are some of the things I have been complaining about lately.

At some point I stopped myself and said, “Okay girl. You’ve been doing a lot of complaining. What do you need to request?” (BTW, I probably said this out loud because since I had Ben I talk to myself in public ALL THE TIME) I decided that the first request I needed to make was for Matt to watch Ben during my Nia class. I was surprised at how easy this was to arrange. Matt said, “Okay. I’ll work from home on Fridays and watch Ben during the class.” Easy as that. I now get to dance every week! (and I don’t get to complain about it anymore)

My next request seemed a bit more challenging:
After more than 7 months of not sleeping through the night (Ben averages 3 night wakings/feedings) I was suddenly at the end of my rope.

I sat him down before putting him to bed last night and said, “Ben, I really need you to sleep through the night. How about you wake up for only one feeding? say around 3AM and sleep until 8AM. I really need some rest.” He stared at me, fascinated, noticing I was speaking to him in a rational, adult tone he had never heard.

So here’s the crazy part. He slept for ELEVEN hours straight. Eleven hours people! I couldn’t believe it. I checked to make sure he was breathing around 4AM in total disbelief. If there is anything I’ve learned so far as a parent, it’s to not get attached to any of it, good or bad. It will surely change. But a girl can hope, right?

I’ve also been learning to make requests, to ask for what I want, even to tiny humans who don’t speak english.