January
2008
Jaba and Bear Save the Day
Drew’s been having some sleeping problems lately. He seems to have a bit of insomnia. If he wakes up at night (which has been happening every night), he can’t get back to sleep. He wants us to stay and rub his back until he falls asleep, which can take FOREVER. So lately he’s been getting to come to bed with us. Not a habit we wanted to start but there you go, it happened. Probably in November it was happening pretty regularly and then when I was travelling with them and staying with different friends, Drew would usually climb into bed with me in the wee hours of the morning. Although he did really well at the grandparent’s house.
(Aside: If I were a single parent I think the boys would just be with me the whole time. It’s a lot of work to keep them in their own bed, when they’ll happily fall asleep with you.)
So now he seems to be having more issues with getting back to sleep and knows he can just come to bed with us. So we’re trying to break him of that. Last night we thought we were in for it again.
The boys have never really been attached to stuffed animals and having them in bed with them, and we haven’t pushed it. They have a couple of favorites that they like to take with them when we travel or they “rediscover’ now and then and carry around for a day or so. Last night Drewie wasn’t going to go back to sleep and he wasn’t going to let me leave. I was so tired from being awake the night before (same problem) and having an early morning that I’m not really sure how the thought came to me. Maybe it was one of those God-inspired moments, because I was certainly too tired to think clearly. But I realized that maybe he just needed something else to keep him company. I stumbled downstairs and got his favorite bear, named “Bear” and a gorilla my mom got him for Christmas. He tucked bear under his arm and “Jaba” the gorilla kept watch at the head of the bed. He also got a stern talking to about how his mommy needed to get to sleep and if she didn’t, she was going to yell a lot the next day. I left and we never heard a peep until 8am this morning! Halleluiah!!
Hopefully tonight will be as successful. 
We have our kids in bed with us, and for the most part, it is great! Jonathan had a wiggly phase, and so he is in his own bed adjoining ours, though last night he fell asleep while I was reading, and I left him next to me.
When they were babies, it is hard to imagine how much extra work it would be if one had to get up and walk somewhere to get a crying baby, rather than rolling over and comforting him.
So – you don’t need to be a single parent to have them with you…
We do go to bed and wake up at basically the same times, so that would be an adjustment for some people.