The Day The Boys Slept

I think blogging is underrated when it comes to capturing those sweet moments that I never want to forget.  Sure, I recap these things to Andy play by play, but he's got the worst memory ever, it all got wasted on medical stuff, and who knows how great my memory will continue to be?  So I'm back to capture those small, minuscule moments that mean so much.

This day... I want to remember this moment at this time, the day my boys went to sleep in their beds, without any fuss, rebellion, or partying with the lights on.

Andy had left for first BYU basketball game with his three buddies, and I was at home with the three kids.  Dagny had gone to sleep at 5 PM after resisting a nap because she woke up from a ride home, thinking she had already napped.  She begged her Dad for a nap and we gave in when she refused to eat dinner and took her blanket, demanding some nai nai or milk (in Chinese, anytime you see an italic it's probably Chinese).  The boys and I read a bunch of books, and then I got distracted by some stains I noticed in the toilet while the boys brushed their teeth.  So I proceeded to clean their toilet and then Andy and mine, because I was already in the swing of things, while the boys waited for me to come back and read some more.  About 15 minutes later, I went into the room to find Jordan had fallen asleep, and Bubba was eagerly awaiting more books.  We read 3 more books together, and talked about his day at school before we heard Dagny wake up.

So the three of us went into the kitchen to look at the blog that Bubba and Dagny's pre-school teacher have of all the fun things they do at pre-school.  We went through the last two weeks worth of posts, and then I left Dagny to go put Bubba to sleep.  We read a scripture story, prayed, and I kissed both of my boys good night and went back out to Dagny, who was still waiting patiently in the kitchen.

I heard a cry from Bubba.  A call, more like it, but it elevated to the level of a small scream when I didn't respond immediately.  I went over to see what was up, and he asked for some water because he was thirsty.  So I got him some water, he drank it, and then he told me good night and lay back down in bed.  I went back to the kitchen, half anticipating his return shortly thereafter, except nothing happened.  He didn't get out of bed.  He just ... went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Dagny was hungry.  I peeled 3 Clementines for her, she ate engulfed about 2 and then gave me the rest.  "Here Mom, for you."  I asked her if she wanted some toast, to which she responded, "With butter on it please."  My most polite child thus far.  I retrieved the toast, with butter, and she ate it while I worked on a flyer for work.  She'd comment every now and then, "Oh mom, pretty," or "Oh Mom, blue!" but that was about it.  "Do you want some tomatoes?" I asked her, to which she promptly responded, "Yes!" so off to the fridge I went.  We had some cherry tomatoes left, I took out a few and before I could even bring them to her, she called from her seat, "scissors mom, need to cut them!"  Good memory.  So I got the kid food scissors, which are blue, and proceeded to cut the cherry tomatoes into 4 for her.  "Mom, I want my purple and pink scissors," she told me.  I told her we aren't cutting tonight, maybe tomorrow, and she responded with an obedient, "Okay Mom, tomorrow."  I continued on my flyer, and as I did, she ate not 1, not 2... but 10 cherry tomatoes all cut into four.  She finished the rest of the cherry tomatoes!

"Do you want a bath?" I asked.  "No," she responded.  "What if Minnie comes along?"  I asked, hopeful for a change of mind.  "Okay then, let's go get Minnie!" she explained.  And off to the bath tub we went.  A long bath later, a lot of swimming on both her tummy and back, she could not be persuaded to come out, so I resorted to a promise of a Minnie show.  That did it, out she came, and into my bed she went, all snuggled in with her pajamas on, to watch some Minnie bow-tique shorts, while I took a quick shower.  Once I was done, and I let her finish her last 3 minute Minnie short, the phone was taken away and the screaming began.  I encased her in my arms, went to the kitchen to grab her two princess books, and showed them to her.  She cried until her eyes seemed to focus on the books, and like a light switch, out of her mouth, "Princess!" and off to her bed we went to read some princess books.  It was about 9:15 at this point, and I had a feeling she might be awake when Andy got home.  We read the princess books, I gave her some raspberries, tickled her, we talked about all the parts of her body in Chinese, and then we started to read her second princess book, when she rubbed her eyes, made me name all the princesses and their sidekicks (from Flounder to Sebastian to the seven dwarves to all the enchanted characters from Beauty and the Beast), and then before I could finish the book, asked me for some nai nai.  "Do you want to go to sleep now?" I asked.  "Yeah," she responded, "night night."  So off I went to grab her milk, came back, prayed with her, and then, left her room with the lights off and into my room to rest on my bed.  I thought for sure she'd come back to me once she was done with her milk, as she has been for the past 3 nights, wiping her streak of easiest transition to big girl bed, but today, she earned that title back.

Andy came home around 10:30, surprised that all the kids, especially Dagny, were sleeping peacefully.  I was shocked too, I had half expected her to be in bed with me awake and alert when Andy came home.

That's the thing with kids.  Some days, they surprise you in the sweetest and kindest way possible.  They do what you think they should, and they go to sleep.  It's a small miracle, a small win, but it is so amazing when it happens.  The boys seem to have gotten into a rhythm of staying in their beds and falling asleep now, at ages 5.5 and 3.5, it's about time... but me staying with them until they fell asleep (did this for a long time) sure didn't help.  It was nice though, to be wanted and to feel loved, but this is also nice.  Yes, this is.