I'm waiting patiently and quietly unless someone calls me. If you know me, and you know me well, you know that over 6 years ago when Celia was born, she never slept in a crib. Maybe once or for some naps, but that thing took up too much space, plus, I was much more comfortable with the kid in the bed and happy I never had to wake up in the middle of the night to warm up or fix a bottle, which she never took anyway. When the sibling came, they both had a spot in between Alex and I always cuddled warm and cozy, and that carried on until recently. About a month or more has passed since the big girls decided to use their own bunk bed. The sleep together on the bottom bunk and every once in awhile someone pays a visit to our bed in the middle of the night. But until today I was still laying down with them to read books and wait for them to doze off before crawling out myself in a state of half sleep and fatigue that was ever so consuming. But we have been trying to have chats here and there about independence, and more than anything I'm getting too big and uncomfortable to be squeezed between them on a full sized mattress and climbing over them to escape for the night. So... tonight has been that first night that I tucked em in, gave them the official countdown after their prayers (count down from 10 to zero the hero hero hero as Cathie and Dad will understand) and left. Celia walked out with an owey complaint then went back, and after about 40 minutes they were still awake, tossing around, and talking to each other. I'm actually curios so I'll go check on them. Hold on..... well, whatdaya know. Success! I even took a picture to prove it. Certain things, that to other parents came a lot earlier, to us have taken some time. In one way it doesn't seem like a big deal, but for me, it means a new sense of freedom, and really a milestone. I remember weaning the two, and thinking it'd be a huge difficult deal, and it wasn't. Having them sleep in their bed came quite naturally, even though it took awhile. They still haven't mastered the art a riding a 2 wheeler, and Celia still gets a little extra help getting ready for school, but hopefully with some hard work, they will soon be cooking breakfast and doing the laundry.
Some people say that as soon as a kid is able to do something independently, they should do it. Well, so much for that one. I'm quite aware that my kids are capable of much more than they do. In fact, I myself was probably capable of doing A HECK OF A LOT independently that I DID NOT do when I should have, but I think my parents have always been too nice. I definitely wanna be too nice too, but I think I'll try to step it up a bit when they're older. Surely I don't want to be a militant mom, but I just don't think I'll be able to do it all on my own. A new Q will be here soon. I'm gonna be on overload, so I better start getting them to do everything they can on their own right? Well, I guess I'll at least try. As for now, tonight's victory seems like a great start :)
