Three nights ago, I was doing the 3 am feeding for my beautiful new baby girl, and I learned a valuable lesson. One that I want to pass on to the readers of this blog. After feeding her, I rocked her for a bit, and then laid her down to check my emails and facebook (yes, at 3 in the morning), and she woke the moment her back touched the bassinet. I thought, hmm, she’s dry and full, what more could she need at 3 a.m. in the morning? She looked at me with those beautiful eyes and spoke a word without moving her lips or making a sound. The message, “I need you to do more than feed me!”

Follow up:

Parent’s; this just in!!! They need us to do more than feed them. They need us to do more than cloth them. They need us to do more than give them shelter. They need us to do more!

The "more" I want to deal with is the "more" my little Bambina was requesting. She wanted me to rock her to sleep. More specifically, she wanted me to hold her. She was asking me to hold her until she was in a deep sleep. She was asking me to help her feel secure. She was asking me to reassure her that I was there for her. She was asking me to protect her. She was asking me not to leave her. She was asking me to give her more of my undivided attention. She was asking me to do more than what was mandatory.

My friends, I am convinced that when we do this more for our children, that the affect stems far beyond the crib. As parents, we have to be masters of the signs. Yes, the signs. I am learning as my oldest grows, that the signs for help/attention change as they grow older. They go from a cry, to asking for help, to sign language, and eventually it seems to ESP!!!! This just in parents, the chances of your 11th grader climbing into bed and spilling their problems and concerns to you are not that high. Chances are, that you like other parents will have to become CSI Parenthood to find out what’s wrong and to place in your ten dollars of advice (yes, the time is out for parents giving two cents!!!)

I am encouraging parents to see ourselves as more than food, shelter and clothing. We have been placed here to take our children from crib to crib (MTV reference:)). To ensure that our children become the well rounded people and successful students they can be, we have to challenge ourselves to offer them more. I know, we are all tired when we get home, and the way we work is a statement of love and concern, but they truly do need more.

Join me tonight. Grab each child tonight and just hug on them and rock them in your own way. Make sure that they know that you won’t leave, they can feel secure, that you will be there, that you will give them undivided attention, and that you will do more than what is mandatory.