Rituals.

Long long ago when I was a new Mommy, I had a difficult baby in the sleeping department. She had to be held and rocked to sleep every night. And if we happened to wake her up while laying her down, we had to start the entire process over from scratch. I'm so glad we stuck to our guns back then, because she's such a good sleeper now.

Anyway, Way back in the olden days, we tried everything to get her to sleep. So I tried to think of some songs to sing. Hm. I seem to know NO nursery rhyme-type songs. On top of that, I'm not a very good singer. I know plenty of Dixie Chicks songs, but they aren't really conducive to sleep, more to dance. I remembered all the times with my dad, in the bedroom listening to him sing and play his guitar and wished for a recording. Bummer. But I also remembered a song he sang to us, and had sung to my mom, called "I Will" by the Beatles. Well, I can manage this! Short, right in my range, with the added family history! Awesome! So I've been singing it for 4.5 years now, to both of them. Even Ben knows some of the lyrics. Tonight Maddie asked me to print the lyrics so she could sing it in the microphone with Ryan, so I did, and Ryan requested the Tab. We sat in the music room and sang our song together.

It's really a good mommy/child song. Maddie loves the part where is says
"Love you whenever we're together, love you when we're apart"
and it's a true thing for us, a reminder that no matter where I am, I will love her (them). Another legacy from my dad, and so wonderful for our family.

How do they know?

I'm very interested in strange things that are hereditary. For instance, many people in my dad's family cannot have their feet tucked in when they're in bed. I, personally, freak out if I know I can't get them out. It's like I'm trapped. Another strange group of us are allergic to Tide, but not anything else. I'm also allergic to Dove and Ivory, but not any other detergents.

Anyway, we just took the side off of Ben's crib. It was a combination of me not being able to lift him because of the surgery and it being time to transition him. It's struggle. The freedom is getting to his head. Last night, he threw a fit, and we let him sleep in Maddie's bed, then moved him once he fell asleep. This morning, though, I found him sound asleep on the floor.

This doesn't seem so strange, or even related to my above paragraph, but some of you may know of our struggles with Maddie when she was 18 months and we took the side off the crib. Night after night we fought her, night after night she moved her entire bed to the floor. Finally we just let her, but when I was pregnant with Ben, we decided to get her a twin bed, because we would soon need the crib (which she wasn't really using anyway). THAT VERY NIGHT she slept soundly all the way through. We have never had another sleeping problem with her. My point is, Ben wasn't even born- he never saw her do this, how does HE know to do this same weird thing??

So this morning I'm looking for bunk beds. The kind that can be twin beds too. Expensive. Eh. But if nothing, I will learn from experience. I will bet dollars to donuts that he will sleep in his "Big Boy Bed" the moment we get one.