Friends, it is now August and still I am writing '2011' for the year if I don't think hard while writing. I read an article about how all of us (no matter the age) feel the time pass at the same rate on a daily basis. But as you live longer, your perspective changes because you've lived so much longer, so larger chunks of time seem to pass more quickly. This makes sense to me.
And that's what's you call an introductory paragraph that has no relation to the actual post.
This post is about Tommy. Tommy who, two weeks ago tonight, had a nightmare. I was working late and so he came down, trembling, to sit with Eli for a while. Eli finally convinced him to go to bed in our bed, and we moved him to his bed a bit later.
And then it was Friday. On Friday, I take care of the kids and Tommy and I were together for the entire day. As in, together. As in, he was usually touching some part of me but if not touching than he was certainly looking at me. If I had to switch the laundry, Tommy came. He did not play by himself in his room. He did not sit in any room by himself. He was, as he explained it to me, scared of monsters.
On Friday, I was worried but also sort of amused. It was a bit sweet that he wanted to be with me, and I like him sort of a lot so obviously I didn't mind too much that we stuck together. But on Saturday, it felt old. On Sunday, it felt older, and for the entirety of the next week, he stayed with Mandy all the time. During this time, he woke multiple times during the night, crept down to our room and stared at us until we woke up (I am actually now scared in my own house at night because Tommy so often is where I don't expect to see him and frightens me).
I put my problem solving skills to good use and fired up the ol' computer to figure out what to do, and then, when I got sick of all the judgmental parenting on the internet, I got out my sleep book and, following the sensible advice, proceeded to promise Tommy that he could watch television in the morning if he fell asleep by himself and then stayed in his bed until the sun on his clock came up.
The first night, he didn't make it. So we made an adjustment. We moved his mattress into Lizzie's room.
The second night, he slept through the night and you should have seen me in the morning when he woke up, falling all over myself to tell him how amazing he is. He loves sleeping in Lizzie's room and in fact, no longer considers it to be only Lizzie's room. He now refers to it as his room as well.
Last night he woke up once, but this is a little bit like having a six-month-old: one nighttime wake up is so much better than it had been that we can almost live with it. (I know.)
Anyway, any and all advice welcome. We are tired over at our house. But glad that things seem to be normalizing for T. (And also grateful that our kid has been so incredibly easy! Nothing like a little sleepless episode to make you grateful for your kid's normally perfect behavior.)
And that's what's you call an introductory paragraph that has no relation to the actual post.
This post is about Tommy. Tommy who, two weeks ago tonight, had a nightmare. I was working late and so he came down, trembling, to sit with Eli for a while. Eli finally convinced him to go to bed in our bed, and we moved him to his bed a bit later.
And then it was Friday. On Friday, I take care of the kids and Tommy and I were together for the entire day. As in, together. As in, he was usually touching some part of me but if not touching than he was certainly looking at me. If I had to switch the laundry, Tommy came. He did not play by himself in his room. He did not sit in any room by himself. He was, as he explained it to me, scared of monsters.
On Friday, I was worried but also sort of amused. It was a bit sweet that he wanted to be with me, and I like him sort of a lot so obviously I didn't mind too much that we stuck together. But on Saturday, it felt old. On Sunday, it felt older, and for the entirety of the next week, he stayed with Mandy all the time. During this time, he woke multiple times during the night, crept down to our room and stared at us until we woke up (I am actually now scared in my own house at night because Tommy so often is where I don't expect to see him and frightens me).
I put my problem solving skills to good use and fired up the ol' computer to figure out what to do, and then, when I got sick of all the judgmental parenting on the internet, I got out my sleep book and, following the sensible advice, proceeded to promise Tommy that he could watch television in the morning if he fell asleep by himself and then stayed in his bed until the sun on his clock came up.
The first night, he didn't make it. So we made an adjustment. We moved his mattress into Lizzie's room.
The second night, he slept through the night and you should have seen me in the morning when he woke up, falling all over myself to tell him how amazing he is. He loves sleeping in Lizzie's room and in fact, no longer considers it to be only Lizzie's room. He now refers to it as his room as well.
Last night he woke up once, but this is a little bit like having a six-month-old: one nighttime wake up is so much better than it had been that we can almost live with it. (I know.)
Anyway, any and all advice welcome. We are tired over at our house. But glad that things seem to be normalizing for T. (And also grateful that our kid has been so incredibly easy! Nothing like a little sleepless episode to make you grateful for your kid's normally perfect behavior.)
Xavier was waking up scared at night a bunch, but as he told me a few weeks ago, "Now that Delila is in my room I don't get scared anymore." Maybe Tommy and Lizzie need to share a sleep space?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bec! I think you're right. It's helped a lot to have him in Lizzie's room. We may move his bed in there if we can figure out how to fit everything...
ReplyDelete