[edit: now with adorable picture]
My kids have lately been asking for all of us to have a camp out in the living room. And while sleeping on the floor or sharing the couch with my husband sounds super fun and I’d love to do it right away, we’ve held off the kids by saying that we’ll have to wait until a night when Daddy doesn’t have to work the next day. Because the only thing better than being uncomfortable all night is getting up at dark-thirty and getting to work by 5.
Last night they asked again. And with Daddy not getting a day off for at least another week, he offered to let them sleep by themselves in the living room in a tent they make. They were thrilled! With no thought of the boogeymen they would soon be scared of!
So we moved the coffee table and the chairs (well, not me, I’m pregnant and refuse to do any heavy lifting/moving) and Daddy and G set up the tent. Those kids were so excited. Giggles while they got their own pajamas and their own sleeping bags. The whole time Hubby and I looked at each other, knowing full well G and Little Missy would last all of 30 minutes before they were scared and wanted to be upstairs in their own beds. But we had our Bible stories, brushed teeth, prayed and kissed and hugged and the kids settled in while Hubby and I went upstairs to our bedroom for a long evening of watching the Olympics.
We kept the door open and the hall light on, shushing each other at every sound that might be a frightened kid. Twenty minutes passed, thirty minutes passed, and there was still quiet in the living room below. Eventually we turned off the light but left open the door so that we could hear their whines as they realized they were sleeping somewhere different and it wasn’t all that fun without Mommy and Daddy right next to them. But this morning when Hubby left for work those two booboos were happily snoozing in their tent. I woke up at 7 to my own internal alarm and not to two preschoolers climbing in bed with me. Thirty minutes later when they finally woke up they talked and giggled in their tent and never needed me. They were content to laugh and play without first climbing all over me and asking for something to drink.
And they continue to grow up. Without my permission.