By the time some of my regular readers are finished reading this, some of you will probably feel just as I do. What I mean by that is you're probably going to feel like this subject is never ending. At this point, I'm going to tell you that you're right, it is never ending, but I'm cautiously optimistic that things are going to change for the better very soon.
Two nights ago, Chandler and I started talking about an episode of nanny 911 that he had recently watched. He was telling me about how the father of these six kids who ranged in age from 2-13 would cuddle them until they fell asleep each night, and if none of them did spent the whole night catering to their every need. Of course, Chandler being the type of person that he is, and having the thought process that he does, he was completely against it from the start, and had a whole lot to say about it. The problem was, so did I!
Before I go into my very opinionated and heart-wrenching (in retrospect) side of things, I'm going to give credit where credit is due. He made some very good points. First of all, as much as I would like to think it could, night time cuddling with your kids can't really realistically last forever. Now I'm sure that there are some people out there who have made it happen, and it worked well for them. If any of you are any of those people who have made it work, I'm definitely not here to put you down, or split hairs. The way I see it after he pointed it out is that realistically it just isn't going to happen forever. Secondly, he made the point that he felt like it didn't have to happen every night. Here again, instinctively I disagreed with him, but the more I thought about it, he's right. If it happens every night, there's probably going to come a point where it's going to lose its effect, and that father's kids are going to fall asleep less and less using that method. Thirdly, and what I think is the most important point he made in this case is the fact that those kids know no other way to fall asleep aside from daddy cuddling each of them to sleep. I don't know about you, but I think it's going to be pretty difficult for them to be able to function as adults in society if they aren't able to go to bed, and get themselves to sleep without being cuddled. I don't think they're gonna be able to survive very easily, do you?
He then tells me it's eventually uncovered that the reason the father acts the way he does is because his parents were never there in that way, and he didn't ever want his kids to endure the emotional pain that he did of his needs going unnoticed. When he made this statement, I wanted to cry! After that initial wave passed, thoughts started flooding my brain, and before I could stop them, spilling out of my mouth! Keep in mind that this is a very condensed version of what was said.
As I explained to him, when a request for a hug or to be held goes unanswered long enough, you just learn to stop asking. Throughout my childhood and adolesence, I was there. Hell, at 24, I still am! So much time is put into my physical care, that getting a hug or a snuggle just because just doesn't usually happen! If it does, it's only because I've BEGGED for it!
When I was done explaining to him how hard I had to work for it back in the day, he said something I thought I'd never hear him say! "That's why you like it so much when I hold you...because you like to be touched."
Woohoo! At that moment, I knew he understood! My belief that he understood was only cemented by the fact that night before last he followed up our conversation with lots of cuddles, and you know what the best part was? I didn't even to have to ask, let alone beg! It was an amazing feeling to know, and finally understand that what I wanted/needed in regards to this ad finally been understood and taken seriously, even if it wasn't going to happen every day.
Thanks Chan man for not just telling me you understood what I had said, but doing something much more important, and showing me! It means the world! 
So, now that I've reached the end, I'll pose the same question that I titled this entry with: is it time to be hopeful that my wants/needs in regards to this are going to continue to be met without opposition??? Although I'm not sure at this point, all I can say is I hope so! 