Needs

We all have basic needs, food, water, shelter, sleep...and I believe, Love.   We also have many wants.  It is sometimes very difficult to differentiate between what we need and what we want.  You often here people saying, "I NEED a new pair of shoes", or "I need to catch MY show on TV tonight".  Do they really need this? is it just a slip of the tongue and misuse of the word.  Similar to how people misuse the words done  and finished.  Are you done with your drawing?  Or are you finished with it?  Do you need a new pair of shoes? or Do you want a new pair of shoes?  I think most people are just confusing the terms, but at times I think people are also of the mind that they really do NEED that new pair of shoes or that diamond ring or what ever.  Have we all really lost touch that badly?

When you have an infant around, you find yourself really going back to the basics.  An infant really has basic needs that she depends on you for, food, water, shelter, sleep and love are all a baby needs to be happy.  Deciding which of these Needs, she needs at any given time is the tricky part.  Figuring out if she really needs it at that moment, or just wants it is also a problem.  Do I just let her cry for a minute or should I pick her up and figure out why she is crying?  We don't want to spoil her but we don't want her suffering longer than she should have to.  It is a balancing act.

It is funny to watch a new dad around his infant daughter.  Someone who has not been around infants often.  Every little sound she makes he asks, "what's wrong with her, is she OK?" She's fine..."should we change her? I think she's hungry!"  She's just moaning in her sleep or having a little dream.  "I think she's sick.  Is she sick? Take her temperature."  Most of the time, I think, 'I know she's fine, but could he be right is something wrong?'

Although I have been around children and infants often and think of myself as a "hands off" mom.  Don't hover and suffocate her so that she thinks anytime the smallest thing happens to her she has to make a big scene, crying etc.  But, although I have watched other parents and decided that I wasn't going to be a hovering mom because those kids always turn out to be little wimps...I find myself hovering, especially when deciding if she needs something or just wants it.

Yes she is only 6.5 weeks old, but how much is too much checking on her, making sure she is breathing, changing her diaper at every whimper and feeding her at the slightest hint that she may be a little hungry.

I hate hovering moms...I do not want to be a hovering mom and don't think I will be.  But when you hear that little thing crying her tiny little lungs out in the back of the car on the way home, how can you not stop to check on her, take her out of her seat and just hold her till she stops crying?  When you hear the Billy Goat cry, or the Mountain lion screech (this is what Edy sounds like when she is really crying), How can you not stop what your are doing right away and stop that horrible, and cute, little sound.

How do we know as parents if that screech is a because of a need or a want?  When her only communication abilities are crying how can we know for sure?   It will be great when she can talk to us, but I also want her to stay this beautiful little BABY!