This is our coffee table. There is a lot of demolition going on, taking things apart, and naming them. I close my eyes and leave it there.
Jack woke me up at 3:43 yesterday morning when he crawled into bed with me. He's sleeping in his own bed again now but sometimes he still crawls into bed with me. At bedtime, one of us always lies down with him while he falls asleep. I remember the first time I saw this, I was at my brother's house and he would lay down with his son while the son fell asleep. I thought it was ridiculous. I no longer think this.
When did this become a thing? I don't know but I wish to god that I had done it with my children. I remember one of my children not being able to sleep and I locked myself in the bathroom while they pounded on the door. Another time it was the bedroom door. What they needed was me but I had nothing to give and I didn't know that laying down with them would help both of us.
When my kids were little, co-sleeping was frowned upon. Even dragging my babies into bed with me while I breastfed them made me feel guilty, but I still did it. On Saturday mornings, all the kids would crawl into bed with us and I loved it. A king sized bed would have been perfect, allowing, kids, babies, and parents more than enough room to rest and feel safe. Nobody told me that.
I'm older now and I really don't give a fuck what people think about us. Jack sleeps with us when he needs us. I'm okay with that.
Halloween tableau courtesy of Jack. There was a missing severed finger, but I found it under the table, as one does.
I don't ever remember sleeping my with parents or vice versa, aside from one time when my mom was sick (with something non-contageous) and she had me sleep in her room one night so I could keep an eye on her. Of course I was sound asleep so I don't know how effective I was, but she didn't die!
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom needed "alone time" she used to shut herself in her bathroom and smoke a cigarette. If we ever knocked on the door we got yelled at. LOL
Gosh, if I had a nickel for every severed finger I found under the table . . . .
ReplyDeleteHey! My mother used to lock herself in her bedroom and yell that she was just going to kill herself. She was still making that threat a few days before she died at which point I said, "Well, if you really mean it, just stop eating."
ReplyDeleteSo see- locking yourself in the bathroom was no big deal.
All mothers reach that point at one time or another. Most of us just don't threaten suicide with their seven and five year old children alone on the other side of the door.
I slept with all of my kids and they all slept with me. At some point, I would truly begin to want to get better sleep and we would start the transition but I spent a lot of time laying beside them in their beds while they fell asleep. Some of my very best memories of all are of sleeping with my babies, nursing them back to sleep when they woke up. I considered it sacred, holy time.