I read another blog post recently about how you never notice the last time a child does something the way that you notice the first time a child does something. The last time they write their "b" backwards; or the last time they say 'mama' before switching over to the more mature "mom" (or the last time they say "mom" without the inflective-sigh "maaahm.")
There is one thing I am simultaneously so ready and so-unready for it to be the last of - kids in my bed. Both kids have gone through their "sleep in mom and dad's bed" phases. Sometimes those phases have even overlapped - and back then we had Astro too.
Allison would climb between us and thrash about all night long, as though we were the interlopers and if we could please just leave HER BED, all would be better. Sometimes we did. But over time she stayed more and more in her own bed, and now her visits are few and far between - and I think we all sleep the better for it. She's also a calmer sleeper now, so that when she does find us in the middle of the night - it's not so bad, and it's infrequent enough that I almost enjoy it.
Jacob's transformation was more gradual - and longer. As a toddler newly released from the confines of the crib, he would waddle down the hallway, climb up in bed, and sleep on top of me - tummy to tummy. As he got a little older, he would snuggle in between my arm and my side. He is a pretty sound sleeper and there was never much moving about. In fact, I'd often wake in the morning and wonder how long he'd been there. And it was very cute and I thought I'd be sooo sad when he was too old to snuggle in bed.
Well, here's what happened.... he grew. And now, he's not a pint-sized four year old who climbs almost unnoticed into the bed - he's a nearly 60 pound PERSON who stands there staring at me next to the bed until I wake up and totally jump out of my skin. Then he climbs in bed and rests his head on my arm and it falls asleep. And there is the mathematical challenge of three full people trying to sleep in a bed made for two.
And there will be a day when I look back in sadness to realize that he's outgrown climbing in bed with us. But I will certainly miss toddler Jacob and not school-aged Jacob in my bed. Until then, I may be the bear that fell out.
1 comment:
Awww, quitcher b******"! LOL!
Until you've had THREE kids in your bed, plus a dog, and said bed being just a double and a 4 poster that's too short for the dad at that, you just don't really know what it's like to have kids in the bed. Oh, and until one of the little ones sleeps on top on you and throws up in your face in the middle of the night. THEN you'll know.
It's all Brian's fault anyway. He started it with us, so it's not surprising that the trait carried over. I say send Brian with the kids back to their beds, and you keep the big one for yourself!
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