We had a rough day today. After a day of failed naps and uncharacteristic fussiness I came to realize the only way to get this lady a good nap was to hold her while she slept. My initial reaction to this was to be annoyed about all of the things I couldn’t do because of this... taking a long overdue shower, catching up on laundry, prepping dinner. But my thoughts immediately turned to the thousands of parents out there right now who would give ANYTHING to hold their child while they slept. And my annoyance was instantly replaced by deep and profound gratitude for having the privilege to be here with my baby right now. My heart breaks for those who aren’t so lucky. And yes, I use the words privilege and luck intentionally. Because that’s all that separates me from them. Holding my babies a little tighter and a little longer these days.
(A little bit of context for when this is read years from now... June 2018 is when the Trump administration began the practice of separating immigrant families, keeping children and their parents detained separately. Families were separated for intederminent amounts of time, children were traumatized and neglected, and as of right now there is no clear plan for reuniting these families.)
