I got home late last night. I’d been out with friends, an amazing consciouness-raising evening. I didn’t get to sleep until almost 1 am.<\/p>\n
Then I heard Veronica let herself out of her room. What? It’s 5:30. I got up to see what was wrong. She pointed at the window and said, “Look it’s morning! I want to see a movie.”<\/p>\n
“It’s late. You need to sleep more.” So do I.<\/p>\n
She began to cry. There had been a nightmare. I took her weeping body back to her bedroom, and tried to find a way to comfort her.<\/p>\n
“I called for help. No one came.”<\/p>\n
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. I was sleeping.”<\/p>\n
More tears. She looked more and more exhausted as she declared how impossible sleep was going to be.<\/p>\n
She told me her dream, it did sound pretty scary. I thought about whether I was selfish for not letting her get up and watch a movie. But her eyes were so tired. We finally agreed that she needed a snack. But we made a bargain that she would try to sleep afterward. Milk and graham crackers were procured.<\/p>\n
When she finished, I took her back to her room. She began to weep, “Mommy, I don’t know how to fall asleep.”<\/p>\n
She climbed into my lap and I put my very comforting bathrobe around her. I told her a story about a tiger I knew. “She is a very beautiful tiger, and she is strong and powerful. You know what she told me? She told me I am powerful too.”<\/p>\n
Veronica started crying again. It was hard for her to get the words out, but she finally said, “I am not powerful.”<\/p>\n
“I think you are powerful.” Was that the right thing to say? I held her. Her breathing became more regular.<\/p>\n
Yes, she did fall asleep. I gave it a few minutes, and then transferred her to her bed.<\/p>\n
She slept for 2 more hours, and so did I.<\/p>\n
I am so grateful that this is unusual now. We used to have to help her sleep every night like that. But now she is a far more independent and powerful sleeper.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I got home late last night. I’d been out with friends, an amazing consciouness-raising evening. I didn’t get to sleep until almost 1 am. Then I heard Veronica let herself out of her room. What? It’s 5:30. I got up … Continue reading