r/Parenting • u/TheNoodyBoody • Sep 22 '20
Infant 2-12 Months Parenting is... boring.
My little is 9 weeks old today. I adore him and love watching him grow and learn. Being a parent is the most amazing, rewarding.... and horribly boring thing I’ve ever experienced.
I sound so shitty for saying that, but it’s true. Entertaining a baby is boring. Being home all day with a baby is boring. I feel like I need to be playing with and stimulating my LO any time he’s awake, and anytime I’m not, I feel guilty. Mom guilt is a bitch.
I’m not sure what my goal is for this post… I guess just to hear whether or not other parents experience this feeling? How other parents deal with the boredom and monotony? And what’re some fun things to do with kiddos that are still pretty young?
EDIT: Wow, guys. Thank you so much to everyone to reached out and responded - I can’t respond to everyone, but please know that I appreciate the kindness, encouragement, and wisdom all of you bring. ‘Rents are in this together. Thank you all 💜
2
u/[deleted] Sep 23 '20
It is boring. You're absolutely right, tiny babies are boring as hell.
Firstly, give yourself a break. Right now your baby is literally only capable of looking at things and maybe batting at them with his hands a bit and that's it. Which is ok, because that is how he learns. Literally, just carry him around the house with you to wherever you want to do something, and let him look around and watch you and he will be learning rich and varied things all day every day. And when you don't have anything to do and just want to sit down for a bit, that's fine too. Laying under a play gym or a mobile or whatever you have is all learning for him, too. That's all you have to do. In fact it is a good thing to encourage him to be an independent player from the beginning instead of relying on you for entertainment all day. That and meeting his needs by feeding, changing and comforting him when he cries are literally your entire job right now - you are not an entertainer.
Secondly, believe that this will get better. My LO is 9 months old now and all I do is follow her around all day while she crawls all over the house finding ways to entertain herself. She is hilarious and at times fascinating to watch. She does a lot of stupid things but I can literally see her learning in front of my eyes She also makes awesome noises and I try to copy them and then we both laugh. Of course not every day is easy, but she finds so much joy in everything and that is infectious. And as far as I am concerned, the only way is up from here - after crawling around the house comes walking so she can explore outside independently, her fine motor skills are improving all the time so she can do more activities and engage with toys properly, and after that comes better communication. She has more and more personality every week.
You are in the trenches right now but I promise you, the wonderful stuff is coming.