I'm Lindsay Ferrier, a Nashville writer with a passion for family travel, exploring Tennessee, and raising kids without losing my mind in the process. This is where I share my discoveries, along with occasional deep thoughts, pop culture tangents and a sprinkling of snark. Want to get in touch? Use the CONTACT form at the top of the page.
July 20, 2008
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As you can probably imagine, with four kids, our house is filled to overflowing.
Since our house came equipped with just three bedrooms, we have had to get creative in order to find space for everyone. When I got pregnant for the first time, we walled in our unused living room in order to create a fourth bedroom. When I got pregnant again, our only option was to move Bruiser in with Punky for a few years, until our oldest goes to college.
It hasn’t been easy having one and four-year-olds in the same room. Bruiser is a very light sleeper and woke screaming several times a night until he was nearly a year old. He also has night terrors on occasion. Neither of these things is conducive to Punky getting a good night’s sleep. Even now, Bruiser wakes once a night and has to have warm milk in order to return to sleep. When Punky was his age and woke on occasion, I simply put a few toys in her crib, turned the monitor on low and let her learn to put herself back to bed. But with two in the room, I can’t do that. Instead, I go down each night, give Bruiser a bottle and then go back to bed, breaking all kinds of pediatric rules of thumb in the process.
I also have to stagger the kids’ bedtimes a bit, giving Bruiser about 30 minutes to fall asleep before bringing Punky in and putting her to bed. Last night, though, I brought Punky in and Bruiser was still awake. When I tucked her in, his face appeared between the bars of the crib and he made a few sleepily curious sounds. This had happened a few times before without incident.
“Now you have to be very quiet,” I whispered to Punky. “Bruiser is still awake, so you have to set a good example for him and pretend to be asleep.”
“Okay, Mommy,” Punky whispered delightedly. She tried to hold back her giggles as Bruiser stood up and babbled at her from his crib.
I went into the next room, prepared for the usual couple of minutes of fussing from Bruiser and then silence. Instead, for the first time after dark, the kids began “talking” to each other from their beds. Punky giggled, then Bruiser, then Punky, then Bruiser. Bruiser made a noise and Punky imitated him. Then Punky made a few sounds and Bruiser attempted to imitate her. Both of them chortled with merriment.
It was too cute for me to do anything about it. For the next half-hour, they carried on, laughing and babbling and making faces at each other before finally falling asleep.
Meanwhile, I sat in the next room, basking in the warm glow of parenthood and another milestone crossed- the first of what I hope will be many times that my two youngest children stay awake giggling, late into the night.
This post originally appeared on Parents.com.
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