1  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: Mira is not an easy baby.

I was certain that my second child would have to be an easy-going child. After all, we suffered through colic, reflux and a general grumpy attitude with the first, so we were owed some sort of cosmic karmic repayment, right?

Apparently karma doesn't work that way. Mira is also a grumpy baby who hates, more than anything, to be put down. "You've spoiled her," my mom tells me every week when she baby sits. "You held her too much when she was born, and now she expects it all the time." Oh, but only if that were true. In reality, I've looked for an excuse to put her down every chance I could. After all, I have another daughter who needs some attention, too.

Today, Mira was being exceptionally fussy, making it impossible for me to get anything done. I was desperate for any sort of diversion that would keep her happy long enough for me to eat lunch. The bouncy seat didn't work, the swing might as well have been a torture device, and no number of toys would convince her the floor was an acceptable place to spend 20 minutes. I decided it was time to bring in the big guns: the TV.

Cordy loved TV as a baby, even though we tried to limit her time and the content. At first she would only watch Cirque du Soleil programs, and no matter how hard we tried, she wouldn't watch Baby Einstein. I had high hopes for Baby Einstein, but Cordy found it too boring for her tastes. Then we discovered the Wiggles, and it was like the sun bursting through the clouds on a dark day. She loved the Wiggles, and it was a guaranteed 30 minutes of time to myself. Those four colorful guys were sure to mesmerize her with their songs and friendly faces.

I started today's TV with cartoons that were already on TV. Mira didn't care for that at all. So I pulled out our dusty Baby Einstein DVD, hoping that Mira might join the crowd of loyal infant followers who can stare at puppets and wind-up toys for long periods of time. But that didn't work, either.

Letting my fingers glide over the DVDs on the shelf, I paused with my thumb on Wiggle Time. It was Cordy's first Wiggles DVD, and the one that got her hooked. It's worth a shot, I thought to myself. I loaded it into the DVD player, and quickly started it. Mira cried through the introduction, but as soon as the first song - Get Ready To Wiggle - came on, she stopped and turned her head towards the TV. It worked!

I had 15 blissful minutes with both of my hands free and no one on my lap before Mira decided she'd had enough. OK, so maybe she isn't quite as hooked on the Wiggles as Cordy was, but that 15 minutes was all I needed to make myself a quick lunch and eat it. And of course I know that TV is bad for children and I'm certainly not recommending parking kids in front of the TV every day. But in those moments when you've held a baby all day long, and the only other option is to eat lunch while the baby screams, a little bit of Wiggles music and dancing isn't so bad.