By Amy H.
This summer my husband and I made the long-awaited decision to dispense with the family bed. Although I could give you a lot of reasons why we maintained it as long as we did (believe me, I've had to justify it to many), and I could also offer plenty of reasons why this seemed like the right moment to evict the two minor occupants, it boils down to the fact that my husband and I wanted more alone time.
While any co-sleeping couple will tell you that you get pretty resourceful in such situations, the choices are rarely optimal -- the couch, the kids' beds, the walk-in closet (!). Also, since none of us are getting any younger or smaller and the thought of a twin bed with Buzz Lightyear sheets has lost some of its romantic charm, the timing seemed appropriate and welcome… at least to us.
My 2-year-old took to it quickly and most nights will sleep until 6 a.m. before wanting a snuggle in "mommydaddywoom." My 5-year-old is another story. He consistently fights sleeping in his own bed and often ends up in his doorway or the hallway at some point during the night. He also has developed the alarming habit of showing up in my face around 2 a.m., and it can take 30 minutes for my heart rate to return to normal.
I write all this as a prologue to the real subject of this post: our unexpected visitor. Suffice it to say that after 5 years of co-sleeping, my husband and I are new to the idea of closing and locking the door to "mommydaddywoom." When my husband and I realized with some giddy exuberance that the kids were asleep at 9 p.m. in their own beds (!) we decided to switch "date night" to that night and proceeded accordingly, without giving the door a second thought.
Well, one thing led to another thing, and that thing was progressing along quite satisfactorily when suddenly I spotted movement in my peripheral vision. A small someone, the same someone that has not adapted so easily to the change in bedroom policy, was there hidden by a well-placed silk flower arrangement (ala Stanley Kubrick's computer graphics in "Eyes Wide Shut") that probably saved us from a discussion that I hadn't planned to have with him for a number of years (like maybe 30).
My husband ushered our 3' 7" intruder back to Buzz's planet in the Gamma quadrant and date night ended with an anti-climactic discussion of what was almost seen by a certain space ranger and a sigh of relief that "the talk" could wait for another day.
Amy H. is a thirty-something SAHM and part-time psychology professor living in the deep South with her husband and two children.
Sorry, Amy, I don't have any advice for you, but I wanted to leave a note to say that you made me laugh. I can just imagine the fear, the embarrassment, the dread of 'the talk'... Good luck!
Posted by: Erin | August 31, 2006 at 09:41 AM
Mine are 5 and 3 yrs. old and although we kicked the co-sleeping a little over a year ago, occassionally I wake up in the wee hours of the morning only to find that I am on the corner of my pillow on the edge of my king sized bed with little or no covers. Why you ask? Because a tiny footed person has crawled into our bed and took over.
About two years ago we thought they were both asleep for good and were so happy to be alone and awake all at the same time we forgot to close the door. We were all in the middle of it when all of sudden we hear a huge PLOP! We froze and groans of embarrasment rather than pleasure was all that could be heard. "you talk to him!" "no you talk to him" went on as we untangled ourselves and turned around to find our little man sitting on the floor of our room.
Thankfully we discovered he was still half asleep and not coherent. From then on, we learned how to use our door AND lock.
Posted by: Maria P. | August 31, 2006 at 01:58 AM