A Mother's Patience

Here's a recap of my (Dan's) evening:
7:00 Get home
7:02 Marvel at the beautiful sleeping child and her marvelous sick sniffling mother.
7:06 Do a few chores+food
7:50 Grab the now awake infant and hope for some father-daughter bonding time
7:55 Screaming child
8:00 Hand child back to the marvelous sick sniffling mother and stare with confusion as she seems much more calm
8:03 Retrieve child with hopes of consoling her. Many things attempted: exersaucer, milk bottle, hugging, flying, bouncing, placing onto random pillows and furniture, staring into her very very loud face while cycling between confused, frustrated, and hopeful expressions (on my face).
9:25 Change crying infant for bed
9:35 Hold crying infant against shoulder while bouncing her and making that look to her marvelous sick sniffling mother that says "shoot me"
9:45 Infant decides to stop crying for no discernible reason
9:47 Return to sofa and attempt to feed her while she decides to sleep instead
9:55 Stop staring at the baby, and when the ringing in the ears stops place her into her bed
11:15 Be introspective

So here it is: I am amazed at the patient energy Karen has for our amazing little child. She (Kendra) is so full of wonderous amazement and boundless potential, but when she decides things aren't right, none of that matters. She becomes loud and uncooperative to the degrees of which I have never fathomed. Watching her scream at me with little provocation or warning is among the most emotionally and mentally draining things I've ever had to deal with. There's almost always a reason, but some times that reason just really isn't easy to figure out if at all. Which leads me back to Karen. It's really amazing that she is able to handle our spirited demanding little china doll as she does. That she's able to connect with Kendra in such a direct and sincere way even in the face of such directed negativity is so very inspiring, and on days like to day even a little humbling.

Wow.

My hat is off to every parent as they deal with that same thing, but especially to my lovely wife for the amazing job she does. She is truly an amazingly patient and calming presence in our lives.

My ears still hurt.