Do I have a newborn? I thought to myself as I blink blink blinked at the numbers on the clock. 1:41am, they said, in their bright, red, in your face arrangement.
Little feet, hitting the floor hard as she jumped off of her own bed and made her way into mine. Little feet, wanting to come in, not be alone. "Come on honey," I said to her as I scooped her up in my arms and brought her back to her room, "It's bedtime."
1:49am.
Little feet - running back into my bedroom. "I don't want to be alone mama," she said. "Come on honey, I'll lay with you a while."
I peeled back the blankets slowly, making sure her eyelids didn't flicker, even a tiny bit, and tip toed back to my bedroom.
2:09am. It's my own fault. I stayed up way to late finishing a good book. You know when you are reading something that is so good, so hilarious, so incredible that you don't want it to end? Yet you find yourself at the ending, the conclusion, the last few pages left and you couldn't put it down even if a cabana boy was waving a margarita in your face wearing nothing but a loin cloth.
I had great expectations of falling asleep and staying that way until morning, with only dreams of Brad Pitt clouding my mind. Any version of Brad Pitt would have been fine. Brad in Thelma and Louise, wearing his cowboy hat. Brad in Fight Club, being all scrappy and witty. Brad in the Ocean's movies...debonair and sexy. Just as long as it wasn't Brad in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - except for that small part in the middle when he and Cate Blanchett are the same age. Any Brad will do. I had finished a cup of tea, was wearing my favorite pyjamas and my pillow was "just right."
Little feet. Dragging, tired little feet. "Mama, I can't sleep." 2:19am - red numbers glaring. I put her back into her bed and explained that she just needed to lie there and think happy thoughts. I told her that sometimes it can take awhile, but that she'd fall asleep and the next thing she would know, it would be morning! I did this in my best 2:19am voice, with about as much enthusiasm as a rock.
Settling back into position, ready for my own "happy thoughts" (of the Brad Pitt variety), I leaned over to my husband and whispered, "It's your turn next buddy."
And what do you know? The next thing I knew, it was morning and I was the only one in my bed.
6 comments:
I often wonder when ALL my children will sleep through the night. I know one day I will have to drag them out of bed they will sleep so soundly. But until then...
ah, nothin like waking up on your own and alone! ahhhhh! does this mean he got sucked into the other room? ;-)
I don't miss those days...it still happens occasionally, but my kids are 12 & ( so luckily not that often.) But I do miss some of the other things that go along with having a younger one around...sometimes!
My just-turned-6-year-old has been having a lot of sleeping trouble. It's always been an issue, off and on. He'd wake up several times before falling asleep for good, then we eliminated naps and even moved his bedtime later. That last for a while. Then he started coming into our bed for large portions of the night, off and on. Then it got better. Then we started major construction, preparing to move him into a new bedroom with his brother. That led to lots of ending up in our bed in the middle of the night. And when they finally moved in, last month? It's been an ongoing battle. He now has two night lights (well, one for each of them, technically) as well as a flashlight. He has permission to turn on the light if he's too scared. He has Cookie Monster to snuggle. He has a book to read if he wakes up. He has "tools" to use: tell yourself a story, think of all the people who love you, name as many happy things as you can, think of something you're looking forward to. And of course, he has strict instructions never to leave his room until the sun rises.
Two nights in a row, he stayed in there all night. At the moment, that's a victory. So I hear you.
You left out the important part! Did you get to have your dreams of Brad after the 2:19 interruption??
So, so, cute. I could just picture your little princess, in little pink slippers running back and forth. So cute. People think I'm crazy, I also love those times when all my babies are smashed together in my bed that was too small 2 kids ago just cuddling and talking
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