The Change of Pace Dad

Cry cry. Bawl bawl. Sometimes that”s the only thing you hear from your kids. It”s one thing to hear a whimper or the occasional scream, but when your kid goes full-on inconsolable, you can sometimes be left with a sense of hopelessness.

The older your kid gets, the more you get to know the screams and cries as if your kid is speaking to you in some sort of high pitch whale call. For our 15 month old son, a, “whaaaaaaaaaaaaa” usually means, he”s thirsty, and a “whuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” means he made a deposit into his diaper account.

A full-on episode can include a “wha” and a “whu” alternating. Pulsating. Throbbing like a generic techno beat bashing your head into oblivion. Couple that with a slithering and kicking movement, and you got something too hot to handle, too cold to hold. Nothing seems to work. You check the diaper, you offer a snack, you giv”um the sippy. Still only convulsions like the fish on Faith No More”s Epic video. When my son gets into one of these moods with my wife, the only thing to do is become the Change-of-Pace Dad.

The Change-of-Pace Dad is nothing special. The only thing that makes him effective is the fact that he is a “Change-of-Pace”. Like a good 3rd down east/west running back after 2 downs of a north/south back, the Change-of-Pace Dad can catch the kid”s defenses by surprise and maybe silence them into submission. There is no special song and dance. Only the same techniques used by my wife.

Maybe it”s the hairier arms, or the smell of cologne, but the Change-of-Pace Dad is very effective in my household. So when my wife has battled the buckin” bronco for awhile with no luck, we deploy the Change-of-Pace Dad to punch into the endzone. Most times, this “Change-of-Pace” will settle him down to a more workable whimper.

Don”t think it is just about the dads, noodads: it works both ways. The Change-of-Pace Mom can give you a breather after an 8 second stint on the bull. So when you think you have explored all other options, try the Change-of-Pace Dad. It may settle down that little demon.