Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep..And Other Childhood Nightmares

We had our 32 week checkup today and everything was perfect. We did not get an ultrasound however. I was disappointed about that, but when the doc looks at you and says that everything is perfect what can you do. I am still amazed that he can push on Emilee's stomach for about 1.2 seconds and declare that "The baby is head down with her back to the left and everything measures perfect." When I ask him how he can figure it out so fast he simply replies "I've done this once or twice". Then Emilee gives me the why are you even talking look.

For those of you keeping score at home the 32 week scorecard looks like this;

Your baby now weighs about 4 pounds and measures about 17 inches. If you’re feeling kicks in your ribcage it probably means that baby has finally moved into the head down position that 96% of babies are born in. Don’t worry if this hasn’t happened yet, you still have a few weeks left for baby to move.

During baby’s awake times their eyes are open and looking around. When they are sleeping their eyes are closed. Eye color is usually blue right now, but this will change with exposure to light, and then it can change again a few months after birth.

As we get closer to the birth of our first child I have started to pay more attention to the books and music that I think would be appropriate for Anna Grace. It has been simple stuff like the nursery rhyme books and classical/jazz CD's that I always see recommended for our child's development. Most of the music is pretty easy to figure out. Beethoven, Mozart, or Brahms for classical. Early Coltrane or Davis for jazz. Anyone that knows Miles Davis does not have to worry about me playing the hot mess that is Bitches Brew. Some Kind of Blue is more the style I am looking for. Maybe even sneak in some Holiday or Fitzgerald.

The books are more of an issue. I was looking through a book of children's prayers and the first one was the prayer I always recited growing up.....

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I should DIE before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take

WHAT? DIE? I guess being little and just parroting your parents you don't realize what you are saying at first. But this prayer would make me wonder now. Am I setting my kid up for a complex with this one? Is she going to look at me one day and say "I just want you to know that I never slept as a child and they tell me that is what spawned the five state killing spree"?

Then I started looking at other "child" stories. Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Goldie Locks almost get turned into snack food for their antagonists. Cinderella is abused, Snow White is put to "sleep", and Bambi has his mother blown away. What about Jack and The Beanstalk? I mean this is a list of childhood horrors. But I learned something after reading a blog by Helen Brain.

Traditional fairy tales deal with common childhood fears. Think of Red Riding Hood, sent to walk alone through the dangerous woods, Cinderella, unloved, emotionally and physically abused, Goldilocks, who does something naughty and nearly gets eaten by bears, Hansel and Gretel, victims of attempted infanticide in a time of famine. These and many more examples are still popular today because they address children’s underlying primitive fears. As the characters overcome their adversity, through their wits or supernatural intervention or luck, their desperate situations are reversed, and they live happily ever after.

Kids use the stories to build their self confidence. They can look at their deepest fears and figure out that the worst can be survived! Gotta love psychology. So maybe I am over reacting a bit. Our kids get exposed to a lot of things that are bad for them, who knew a little bit of fear could be good for them?

Stay Safe,

Rob