What responsibilities does my daughter have? She’s a baby, so many people would say none. But without my imposing any on her, I think she may have a few already. She is the one inside of her body and only she has the power to tell me if something is wrong or look at something that interests her or even get herself to sleep.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got plenty of things to do in order to help her with these jobs that she’s got, but inevitably, I can’t do them for her. I can’t magically make things better or reason her out of crying. And I can’t make her eat, sleep or poop. I can only take care of my end of things.

Monday morning: nap time. She awoke too early and I, being the steward of sleep (that is, the caretaker of it), knew this. But I decided to ignore the sensible voice in my head and get her up anyway to see if she was hungry. I don’t want to say that the rest of the day was lousy because of my mistake, but it certainly didn’t help it. Of course it is her job to sleep when she’s tired, but if I don’t allow her the opportunity to sleep, then what kind of steward am I being? I wasn’t taking the best care of her sleep. 

It’s difficult to remember that I can’t control everything regarding her habits. She still seems so malleable. But the quicker I come to realize that I am only the guardian of her and not the owner, the more satisfied and capable both of us will be.

I can’t force, only shape. I can steer a little, but I can’t make her do things. Remember remember remember… I’m just a steward- here to oversee, but not here to own her.