As first time parent one resolves to do (or not to do) many things. Stuff like – I will only nurse and not formula feed. I will not fill the house with baby crap. I will only use cloth diapers. I will shower everyday and wear something more presentable than old pajamas. I will not watch TV unless it’s PBS. I will read to baby everyday..
The resolutions mostly work out, except when they don’t. These moments of defeat usually creep up right after you tell your friends that the baby sleeps through everything and of course the baby then screams out loud at the sound of a drawer closing and wont quiet down. Or when you find a new show on TV that is definitely not PBS material but so good. Or when you see how much the baby poos and decide that landfills are not an immediate problem and that disposable diapers are not the devil.
I think pacifiers present one of the greatest challenges to parenting. It is truly amazing to see how pacifying a baby with a rubber nipple solves 90% of the problems. Loud shrieking in public – pacify and voila, behold the peace. Louder shrieking in the middle of the night – pacify and it’s like being at a spa getting a full body massage. That said it’s quite unfair to have all these studies showing that excessive use of a pacifier is not good. No problem, the new parent says, we will just use it sparingly and not excessively. It is soon discovered though that to a baby, pacifier is crack and there is no in between with crack – one is an addict, not just a casual user.
We have learned that the only way to overcome Asha’s pacifier addiction is to go cold turkey. Welcome to a lesson in patience, sleeplessness, and ear plugs. This is where the biscotti comes into play. Sleepless nights will warrant a lot of coffee drinking the next morning and if the new parent has a stash of some homemade almond chocolate biscotti on hand, life will seem less cruel. I use the Chocolate Almond Biscotti recipe from Joy of Baking. Give it a try and see if it helps you in sticking with your resolutions and soldier on another day.
You read my mind, the other day in the coffee shop I was eating Nonni's biscotti and thinking about making them. Will let u know how it turns up.