Sleeping Together/Sleeping Apart

On Thursday night I went to pick up the kids from VBS--vacation bible school--and before I left I called Brian to let him know I was on my way and asked if he needed me to pick anything up.  He told me that when I got home we would be having a "talk" with Grace and Haven and that there were be some changes beginning immediately.  And he said I just needed to agree with everything he said.  Then I think Manny started screaming in the background and that was the end of that phone call.

Changes?  Uh oh.

When I got home we all sat down for a family meeting where Brian explained to the Bigs that starting this very night, Mommy and Daddy would be sleeping in their bedroom ALONE.  That all the kids would be sleeping in kids rooms.  No kids would be sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed any more. 

Side Note--our current sleeping arrangements are pretty crazy.  In the master bedroom, Grace and I are in the king size bed and Louise is in a pack n play.  In the boys room, Manny and JoJo sleep together in the bottom bunk.  In the girls room, Brian sleeps on the bottom bunk Haven on the top bunk and Katriel is in a pack n play.

This was not good news for Grace.  She has been sleeping in my arms every night since we brought her home from China (except for our two trips to Congo).  Needless to say Grace (and I, later in the privacy of my bedroom) fell apart in tears at the news of our evening of musical beds.  This had the potential to be a ground breaking and extremely miserable night.

Way to rip the band-aid off, Daddy!  So this is how our night broke down:

9:30pm--Grace and Haven go to bed, with lots of tears and trepidation from Grace.  Grace and Haven are sleeping together in the bottom bunk in the girls room.  Louise is in the crib, Katriel is in the pack n play.  It is very cozy in this room.  We tuck her in with her favorite friend, Brown Bear, her Cinderella pillow and blanket, and of course her most loyal security blanket, Haven!  Haven thinks the whole thing is cool, like a great big slumber party. He comforts Grace and covers her up with his special orange blanket.

10:15pm--She has cried herself to sleep.  But hey, she is indeed asleep.  And it's only 10:15pm.  Hmmmm???

10:30pm--Brian and I find ourselves sleeping in the same bedroom, in the same bed, with no one else but us in the bed for the first time in over 4 years.  What in the world are we going to do with ourselves!!!

Midnight--I finally tear myself away from the computer (no that's not what I did all night) where I have discovered that the new Disney/Pixar movie  Brave is opening tomorrow (see my review for the film here).  I think this will make a great reward for Grace if she makes it through the night.

2:00am--I hear noise coming from Grace's room and assume it is time to feed one of the babies.  I discover Grace is laying in the brightly lit hallway with her pillow, wide awake and very sad.  I get down on the ground with her and we cuddle until she calms down.

2:40am--I finally manage to persuade her to go back to her bed with the promise of a special date tomorrow with mommy: the princess movie, popcorn, any large box of candy she wants, and a soda.  Then I crawl back to bed where I toss and turn for several more hours because I have extra sensitive bionic mama hearing and I hear every wheeze, sniffle, and scratch my kids make even though they are on the other side of the house.

4:50am--What the @#$%, I hear giggling from Grace's room.  She and Haven are wide awake and enjoying their slumber party.  They have the reading light on and they are making shadow puppets.  Grace has told Haven all about our trip to the movies.  I guess she thinks it is morning and we are leaving at any time.  I whisper at them through gritted teeth that if they don't got back to sleep for at least 2 more hours no one is going to watch another movie again.......ever!   And they had better not wake up the babies or their brothers across the hall.

6:45--JoJo is awake bright and early as usual.  I feel like I have been run over by a truck, but you can't just let JoJo wander around the house aimlessly so Brian and I both get up and start the day.  Grace and Haven are fast asleep, the little rats, since they spent half the night awake, but.....

Grace slept spent the whole night in her own room!!! Hallelujah!!!!!

Now one night does not a pattern of behavior make, but I am happy to report that she did it again for the past two nights.  On night two she fussed a bit at bedtime and she arrived in our room at 2am a little weepy and distressed, but she let me carry her back to her bed without much of a fight and she was back asleep after 5 minutes of holding her hand and stroking her hair.  And she slept all the way until 7:30am this morning.  By night 3 she slept the whole night through without a peep.

I did promise her that if she had 5 nights in a row in her own bed that I would take her Target and let her pick out a new toy.  Don't judge, I'm sure a lot of bribery happens at 2am in houses across America!