Home Alone!

Last night I finally did it. What I never wanted to do but knew it would have to happen one day. I held out as long as I could but last night was Lyla and Rasul's engagement party and I had to leave Nyah home with Dadima and Bapa!

Ok I know it doesn't sound as bad as I made it sound but really it was traumatic, for me!

Let's start at the beginning, I made it a point to wake Nyah up at 9am and stuck to her usual schedule which had been disrupted over the past few days because of family get-togethers. She took her nap at the usual time but it lasted a bit longer than usual. In the evening we made her run and play outside so she would get tired, and come nighttime, we gave her a bath, nursed her and put her to bed.

9:15PM Nyah is asleep, we are dressed and ready to walk out the door when Nyah starts crying. I could've left and she would have cried herself back to sleep. But I felt guilty leaving her to begin with so I wanted to make sure she was ok and settled. So I went to her and held her and talked to her and calmed her down but she was not interested in sleep. Everytime I walked out of the room she would cry again and she learned that the more forceful the cry the sooner I would re-enter the room.

9:45PM I had Aamir take her in the car to fall asleep with the motion and music. At 10:15PM she was still awake with no sign of sleepiness in her eyes. I was about to say forget it we're staying home but Dadima convinced me that she would be fine and that she would make sure she went to sleep.

It took a lot for me to say goodbye to my little munchkin and to see her wave back at me and blow me kisses like it was no big deal that I was leaving her behind. It would be the first time since she was born that I didn't put her to sleep at night.

When we got to the hall, we were beyond fashionably late and managed to be seen by almost everyone as we walked in. As soon as we sat down someone at the table asked "How is Nyah?" and I started crying. I regained my composure relatively quick but as soon as I turned to look at my mom, she was asking the same question, so again I started tearing up. It happened about 3 or 4 more times before I got the call that Nyah was sound asleep.

We had a great night after the reassuring phone call but I was a mess and I don't know that the next time will be any easier. Needless to say, I cried more that night than Nyah did. I have a feeling going away to university will be out of the question....