It has come to the point in my husband’s and my lives where we do not remember the feeling of uninterrupted sleep. Every night, our two children are roaming the halls, waking us up, crawling into bed, kicking us, stealing pillows and so on. I can’t remember the last night when we both slept a full 7-8 (OK – even 6 hours) without interruption.
Yes, we ultimately go back to sleep. Yes, sometimes having their cute little warm bodies cuddle next to us is wonderful. Yes, we have figured out ways to bounce extra sleeping time off of each other.
Regardless, we are tired.
Tonight, while putting Ania to bed, I simply asked her why she won’t sleep in her own bed. Her response was not that surprising. She mentioned that she was scared of the dark and felt safer sleeping with us.
We talked about how feeling this way is normal. We talked about possible solutions. I offered purchasing another night light. I even sweetened the deal by alluring her with a Bo Peep Nightlight (Toy Story is all the rage in our house right now), but – she stood her ground.
“No. I am sleeping with you. I don’t want to sleep alone.”
I asked her if she had any solutions. How could we make her feel safer in her big, full sized bed in her beautiful girly room I so eagerly decorated with princesses, castles and ballerinas. She looked at me again and very casually said, “You could get me a dolphin.”
“What? … That’s silly. Dolphins are huge and they live in a lot of water.”
“We could get a pool.”
I looked at her with some disbelief but also with awe. We had watched an episode of Bubble Guppies a few days ago from which they taught us about dolphins and their unique ability to utilize sonar or echolocation. It was pretty well done and as usual, Ania absorbed it all.
“Why do you want a dolphin all of a sudden?”
“So they can help me see things at night.”
What a logical response for an absurd idea. What amazes me more than anything is her nonchalant, casual, matter-of-fact attitude about it all. As with anything else, she expressed something to me with such conviction, such confidence. Of course Mama, makes sense.
Not long after, I kissed her goodnight and stepped outside to tell me husband this crazy idea. He laughed and went to say goodnight to her. He quickly returned to tell me that she mentioned that she was really scared of shadows at night. He simply turned on his phone light, made a few shadow puppets to demonstrate that shadows were harmless and left the room. Apparently, that was satisfactory and she felt better.
I always remind myself of a lesson that I learned from Mr. Rogers. Yes, Fred Rogers from Mister Roger Neighborhood. I love the guy. I watched his show as a kid and promptly saw both a recent documentary about him and the Hollywood movie inspired by his life. His philosophy was brilliant. He told kids the truth. He valued kids’ thoughts and feelings. He listened to them.
Kids say crazy things but if you are really listening to them, sometimes they may just make a little sense.
Breath sounds and bubbles 