Ziggity Zug
Another thing about becoming a parent is that suddenly all sorts of clichés that you’ve taken for granted from their rote appearances in movies and television suddenly make sense in real life. Like, how many times have you watched a scene where the parent looks in on the sleeping child, smiles indulgently, gently removes the toy from the tyke’s grasp, and pulls the covers up? It honestly never occurred to me that people do that in real life until I found myself checking in on Baby Dog last thing before I go to bed every night. It started off as new parent paranoia – I had to listen and be certain she was breathing and didn’t have the blanky wrapped around her head before I could rest easily. Now it’s just a fixed part of my routine. I turn out the living room light. I open her door. I lean on the dresser and peer over the edge of the crib. I still check to make sure she’s breathing and that the blanky’s in a non-threatening position. But now I’m fairly certain I’ve added an indulgent smile to the repertoire. How could I not smile indulgently at my sleeping daughter? I don’t think it can be done, at least not by me.
One of Baby Dog’s favourite toys is the Gama-Go Uglydoll given to her shortly after birth by friend Charles. It’s only recently that Baby Dog has been large enough to play with this one, but she’s really taken to it. Mama Dog has named it, for reasons I’ve never thought to enquire after, “Ziggity Zug.” Ziggity Zug has been Baby Dog’s official bedtime doll for the last week or two. She clutches him in the crib as she cries and complains about the fact that she’s being cruelly remanded to sleep.
The other night after a midnight feeding, Mama Dog told me when she put Baby Dog back down to sleep she had given her Ziggity Zug as a comforter, and that it had seemed to work well. At first all I thought was “that’s nice,” but the more I thought about it the less able I was to fall asleep. Ziggity Zug is nearly as big as Baby Dog. While it’s difficult to conceive of a scenario where he could envelop her to the point that her airways would be obstructed, I didn’t like the thought of her asleep all night with the doll on top of her. After about ten minutes I could stand it no more. If I was going to get any sleep myself, I had to check on her. I got up and crept through the living room to her door. I leaned on the dresser and peered over the edge of the crib. There was Baby Dog, snoring softly, with Ziggity Zug lying on her face.
Tiptoeing back to bed, it occurred to me what I had just done; I had smiled indulgently, gently removed the toy from my daughter’s face, and pulled the covers up. I mean, god damn. Am I ready to appear in a State Farm commercial or what?
One of Baby Dog’s favourite toys is the Gama-Go Uglydoll given to her shortly after birth by friend Charles. It’s only recently that Baby Dog has been large enough to play with this one, but she’s really taken to it. Mama Dog has named it, for reasons I’ve never thought to enquire after, “Ziggity Zug.” Ziggity Zug has been Baby Dog’s official bedtime doll for the last week or two. She clutches him in the crib as she cries and complains about the fact that she’s being cruelly remanded to sleep.
The other night after a midnight feeding, Mama Dog told me when she put Baby Dog back down to sleep she had given her Ziggity Zug as a comforter, and that it had seemed to work well. At first all I thought was “that’s nice,” but the more I thought about it the less able I was to fall asleep. Ziggity Zug is nearly as big as Baby Dog. While it’s difficult to conceive of a scenario where he could envelop her to the point that her airways would be obstructed, I didn’t like the thought of her asleep all night with the doll on top of her. After about ten minutes I could stand it no more. If I was going to get any sleep myself, I had to check on her. I got up and crept through the living room to her door. I leaned on the dresser and peered over the edge of the crib. There was Baby Dog, snoring softly, with Ziggity Zug lying on her face.
Tiptoeing back to bed, it occurred to me what I had just done; I had smiled indulgently, gently removed the toy from my daughter’s face, and pulled the covers up. I mean, god damn. Am I ready to appear in a State Farm commercial or what?
posted by PapaDogDuvalier | 10:08 PM
2 Comments:
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I named the UglyDoll "Ziggety Zug" because this is what I say while wiping post-feeding schmutz off of Baby Dog's scowling face. Face-wiping is normally an activity that Baby Dog abhors; however, when I say "Ziggety Zug!" while doing to unpleasant deed, she smiles & giggles.
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