Emma sleeps

It's amazing to me how centralized our life has become on one thing - whether Emma sleeps or not. It's the first thing we talk about in the morning, the first thing anyone asks, the first thing the au pair and I discuss when I get home, and the first thing people notice about me if she hasn't... Crazy! What really gets me is that even strangers ask this question - is she sleeping through the night yet? It seems to be a loaded question, asked just as an opening for them to jump in and give you their opinion and advice (well-intentioned or not). And believe me, EVERYONE has an opinion! Have you tried this? That? My sister/friend/cousin twice removed did this and it worked perfectly and HER baby sleeps 12 hours a night... It's like strangers asking when I was pregnant - is it a boy or a girl? Why is it any of their concern? What makes them think they should know? Isn't this all a special and personal question? And why is it such a national concern anyway? I wonder if it's just we Americans that are so obsessed with our babies sleeping through the night. Is it even natural? If it were normal, why are there so many many many books about this subject? When you think about it, for that matter, how many adults sleep through the night? Maybe we should be looking more at the rest of our lives and finding ways to give ourselves a break than worrying about whether my 8-month-old still wakes up wanting mommy in the middle of the night...