Sunday, November 28, 2010

There's Just Something About Our Bed...

There's just always been something about our bed...I don't know what it is.

Of course it's special to me and Robbie. No bed has ever slept as good as ours does! The pillows are perfect (all ten of them), the sheets are soft, the cover is just right...it's just heavenly to lie down in after a long day at work or at play.

But we are not the only ones who love that bed. When our children were little, our bed was the one to come to if they were sick or scared -- or if they just woke up and wanted to. Each one was a little different.

Josh, the quiet one, would wake up in the middle of the night and ease into our room. Never one to be loud or disturb anyone, he would ease the cover from under the end of the matress and sneak up into the middle of the bed. We didn't even know he was there until we woke up the next morning! Whenever Josh got sick -- which wasn't often because he always called Nannie and Papa to come get him at the first sign of sickness from any of us-- he wanted our bed. It just made him feel better, he said.

Lauren loved our bed when the storms came -- and she was not quiet about it. Lightning would light up the sky, thunder would roll, and here she came. It didn't matter to her if everyone else was asleep...she had important places to go. We were very aware of her presence; elbows and knees and long hair were everywhere at one time. She didn't stop needing us after she grew up either. When David was working away from home or on the night shift, she was fine as long as it didn't storm. Several times Robbie would try to get her to go ahead and spend the night if a storm was in the forecast, but noooooooo. She would wait and call at 2:00 in the morning --- in the middle of the storm --- and Robbie would put his shoes on, drive down to her house, and bring her back, sometimes to just pile up in our bed and sleep with us.

Robert was never one to sleep well with any of us. He required a LOT of room. I didn't know why Josh was having trouble sleeping (they shared a bed) until I went in one night and noticed the strange shape of the cover. It was then I discovered that Robert was sleeping with a Tonka dump truck and a Ford tractor -- with the plow attached. Poor Josh! He was hanging on for dear life to the very edge of the bed. But when those migraines came on, Robert wanted our bed. He would get right in the middle, cover his head with pillows, ask for the windows to be "darked," and go to sleep. Hours and hours later, he would wake up with no headache. When he had the flu, he thought our bed made him feel better...and I think so, too.

Now we are in a different season of our lives. We don't have small children living here who are scared of storms or noises or sickness. Instead, we have small children visit and spend the night---and they love our bed, too! It's so weird...Carsyn (who rarely takes more than a thirty-minute nap) piles up on our bed and sleeps TWO hours! You should see her...arms thrown up beside her, that little bottom stuck up in the air, fists balled up, and the pacie stuck securely in her mouth. Soooooo sweet!

Grace truly believes she owns an interest in our bed. She has always slept with us, but now that she's bigger and is used to sleeping by herself at home, she takes up more room (her hair requires a pillow of its own). She finds nothing unusual about PopPop sleeping in Lauren's old room so she can have her "Big Bed" time. She goes to sleep better in our bed, sleeps longer in our bed, and is so happy that we don't even consider mentioning that she could sleep on her own bed in Aunt Lala's room.

Dylan, Daniel, and Kaylee spend the night with us about every other weekend. We usually get them on Saturday night and take them home on Sunday afternoon. Kaylee still sleeps in the baby bed, and Dylan and Daniel sleep on the queen sized bed in Lauren's room -- at first. We never know when it's going to happen, but it always does. About 4:30 or so, little feet come through the living room. Dylan is always first, and he always comes to my side of the bed. I help him up, cover him up, and he falls immediately back to sleep. And then Daniel comes. He comes to my side and I lift him up and over Dylan. Daniel usually gets tucked in between me and Robbie...and that's when I become a ZiZi sandwich. They are so sweet...Dylan will reach over in his sleep and rub my face; Daniel will say sleepily, "Scwatch my back, ZiZi." And they sleep so hard that they don't even know I get up to go sleep with Kaylee, who goes right back to sleep when the snuggling begins.

I have heard much advice on the subject of kids on the bed, but not one time that any of our children or grandchildren have come to my bed have I regretted having them there. There is a sweetness in their sleep that makes the more difficult times of the day bearable. There is love in their cuddles that they don't have time to give during their playtime. My advice to anyone with children is this: they won't be this way long, so let them sleep in the middle if they want -- the benefits will be yours.

The chorus of the country song by Billy Dean says it all:

Please, let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give them hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let 'em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

What a wonderful post!!