Come, Mommy

We are a family of co-sleepers. Both of our kids have been in our bed since they were newborns. Liam moved out when he was two – or three, I can’t remember for sure, but he comes back some nights just to fall asleep, and then we move him into his bed later on. Kieran is obviously still in bed with me since he night-nurses, and I’m not getting out of bed in the wee hours if I don’t have to! Co-sleeping works for us. I love having warm little bodies snuggled up against me, feet against my tummy. It’s safe and it’s warm and we all get (mostly) the sleep we need.

However, there are situations where co-sleeping is not such a great thing. Not many, but I did find one today. Let my story serve as a cautionary tale. Kieran played in the sandbox with the big kids for a bit this morning at drop-off. (We’ve been having a problem in that he doesn’t want to separate from Liam in the morning. He cries, begs to go back to Liam’s play yard at school, and unless I keep him busy, he will periodically point out the front door, sign “car”, and say, “Leem! Leem!” It’s really is a sad thing to witness. So Liam’s teacher has been letting us hang out for a bit at the beginning of school to let Kieran have a few more minutes with his brother and have some fun playing with the big kids. That has helped a lot, and Kieran is much happier.) Today he joined a “strawberry pie” making party that was in progress in the sandbox when we arrived. (The pie looked a bit grainy to me, but Liam assured me it was delicious.) At one point one of Liam’s classmates drizzled “strawberry filling” all over Kieran.

Despite the fact that I brushed him off as well as I could, he ended up bringing some apparently large percentage of the sandbox contents home under his shirt and in his pockets. I was not aware of that fact as I gently picked up a sleeping child from the car and tucked him in for a nap when we arrived home. He looked so peaceful that I decided to join him.

It was a wonderful nap until I woke up a bit later. The bed was distinctly scratchy. I tried to brush the visible sand off the sheets. Just then Kieran rolled over and several spoonfuls of sand fell out of his pockets. I brushed that off, but then more sprinkled out from the cuffs of his pants. I gave up and let the baby sleep. When he woke up he pointed to his shoes and socks, obviously wanting me to remove them. I did, and out poured sand. I wouldn’t have thought you could squeeze much sand into Robeez, but it turns out that yes, you can. And I’m too lazy to change the sheets today since that’s on the agenda for tomorrow, so we’re just going to put up with some sand in bed tonight.

So there you go – co-sleeping is warm and fuzzy and wonderful. But when the kids get big enough to play on their own, it’s a good idea to check the contents of pockets, shoes, and other spaces in clothing before they enter the bed. Who knows what could end up in your bed? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.