Bedtime has never been an issue in the Renaud Household. I remember when the kids were bitty and we had a gate across the bottom of the stairs. Many a night, about 7:00 pm, one of the kiddos would stand at the gate, take hold of it, and rattle it like a death row inmate yelling, "ME GO BED NOW!"
My two munchkins are good sleepers, and believe me, I am ETERNALLY grateful for that. I don't think it has anything to do with anything Mark or I did or didn't do, nor do I think that anyone that has a child that doesn't sleep well did or didnt do something to make them that way, I just think my children happened to get the message loud and clear real early on: If you like food, then you like a rested mom. This seems to have worked for the past 8 years, although both EARLY risers, they are both one step shy of being Put Yourself To Bed kids (and that last step is the good night tuck in/kiss that I hope to NEVER let go of.)
So when either one of them makes the occasional call from their beds for a drink of water or "one last question" I can usually muster up the energy to politely oblige.
After reading If I Ran The Zoo to both of them tonight (now if that isn't irony, I don't know what is), I promptly tucked each child in, kissed each forehead, and turned out two lights. I came downstairs to throw my body into the recliner for the "Job well done today, Tracy" pep talk I give myself most nights to help me get through the upcoming hours of regrouping from the day's events and prepping for the next day's events. Within minutes, I heard Christopher's footsteps tapping down the stairs. Here's how it went from there:
ME: What's the matter, Bud? You okay?
(read: PLEASE God, tell me he didn't puke, at least not ALL over his bed. Let
there still be room for him to sleep until I have the energy to do something
about it.)
HIM: I am scared.
ME: Oh no. What are you scared of?
HIM: Myself.
ME: Yourself? Hmmmm. Can you give me a little more information?
HIM: After you kissed me good night, I found my flashlight and was using it to read my Star Wars Character Encyclopedia. Then I tried to fall asleep but my mind is now playing Jedi mind tricks on me. It is telling me to breathe like Darth Vader, but his breathing is scaring me.
ME: You mean YOUR breathing is scaring YOU?
HIM: NO. Darth Vader's breathing.
ME: That you are breathing?
HIM: Yes.
ME: Maybe you should just stop breathing.
HIM: Good Idea. Good night.
Brilliant.
For the record...I DID check on him a little while later to be sure he was indeed breathing. And I most certainly DID NOT tiptoe into his room and whisper into a sleeping child's ear, "Luke, I am your father."
It might have been a little louder than a whisper.
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