Loving Snuggles and Short Term Memory

So after all the frustration that was vented in my earlier post (and seriously, I was on the brink of insanity) I tried putting Aria down for another attempt at a nap (she just would NOT go down for a nap today) and for the first time today....there was no screaming. No angry face. Not even any baby chatter when I closed the door. It was perfectly and completely silent. After just a minute, I looked in on her and she was completely and peacefully asleep. Just like that. After all my frustration, annoyance and irritation from all the little things going wrong, my baby fell asleep. And I felt guilty. Horribly, utterly guilty.

There's something so beautifully innocent about watching a baby sleep. They look almost angelic, and we can almost forget the terror that was our home just moments before. Aria took one of the longest naps I can remember in the past few months, almost hitting 3 hours long. When she started waking up, I went in right away - something I rarely do. I usually let her wake herself up and comfort herself for a few minutes before I go in there and get her up. Today, I went in right away and instead of practically jumping out of her swing - as in the norm - she snuggled right into my arms when I picked her up. No pushing away, no instantly talking or whining. Snuggles. Now if you know Aria, you know she is NOT snuggly baby. At all. But I got about 15 minutes of quality snuggle time with my baby, and after all the irritation I had felt towards her earlier. I was horribly rebuked. I'm sure that if Aria were a little bit older, she would have been able to sense my frustration with her earlier in the day, but being so little, she doesn't really see that, and good thing for me, too.

 Because of a baby's lack of long term memory or whatever it is that causes them to forget small wrongs against them, they will always love you, no matter what happened a few hours previous. They know we, as parents do love them, and that's what comes to mind when they see us. Not the heated words we may have said in their direction or the angry looks over something trivial (like a channel change on the monitor...)

I so wish I was like that; to have the ability to just forget wrongs because I know that the person who wronged me really does love me (did that make sense?). If I could just see the big picture, see the love of the person for me and my love for them... how many less arguments would there be? Because really, the big picture is always love. Always. The next time I'm tempted to hold a small hurt against my husband, daughter, or friend, I hope I remember the love.