“Your bed makes bad dreams go away.” How simple a statement that is, and so simply said it was almost profound. I woke up at about 4am this morning to let the dogs out. When I did I noticed a new lump in the bed next to me. Said lump turned out to be a soon to be 6-year old daughter. My schedule every morning is to let dogs out at 4am and sleep the rest of the night on the couch. Even with this little lady asleep next to me, I follow the schedule.
6am the alarm goes off and Kristin hollers (kind of hoarsely) from the bedroom to get up and get washed so she’ll have time to get in the shower. Normal routine kind of stuff follows. I wash, I wake the boy so he can wash, and then I rouse Kristin out of the bed so she can wash. In-between washings I’m making breakfast and preparing 3 mugs of coffee (me, Kristin, Nathan), as well as playing on the computer. While Kristin is in the shower I start waking the girls in their room, forgetting that Kate is already in my bed, and remind Nathan to put his pump back on when he puts his underwear on (simple enough request made 5 times before actually done). Emma thinks it would be fun to crawl into my bed and try to wake sissy.
When I walk through the kitchen to make sure Nathan has undies on (for the 3rd time) I hear a little giggling. On investigation I see that Kate is still asleep and that Emma has just hidden under the covers of my bed. Needing to get the day going, and wanting it to be as light hearted as possible (bad starts end up with my gray hair on floor…), I lie on both the lumps left in my bed pretending to fall asleep. Emma thinks it is hilarious and gives an almost immediate bubbly laugh. Kate, not quite awake, is annoyed that something as big and heavy as me has fallen on her. Once she does roll over and sees me staring at her she gives a half-hearted hug (half a hug really, just one arm is fully awake). When I ask her why she is in my bed she says that she had bad dreams. Then she says, “Your bed makes bad dreams go away.”
Magic bed not having been totally ruled out, it is nice to know that my children can find peace and solace in the middle of the night snuggled next to me or Kristin when their demons come out to haunt them.
