Snugglies

Some parents have issues with children that want to sleep in their bed. We are the opposite.

After our daughter was born (nearly 4 years ago), we would have snuggly naptime in bed every once in a while, but as she got older she preferred to snuggle on the couch and read books and such. She was 5 months old when I got pregnant with our son, and near the end of my pregnancy I was pretty tired, and went to bed early. Sometimes I'd try to take her to bed with me if my hubby was working late, or if it was close to her bedtime anyways. But, it was always a game for her - when I closed my eyes, I could always sense that hers were open...and I could sense her little fingers trying to poke my eyes! (giggling as I write this) I'd pop my eyes open and she would just laugh and laugh. It never worked, so we'd snuggle for a few minutes, then it was off to her own bed.

It was a bit different with our son. Momma didn't get much naptime because when he napped, there was still another little one to care for - it was rare for them to nap at the same time, as much as we would have liked! But, it seemed that it took him longer to sleep through the night, and even when it seemed he was, then he wasn't again. I remember several nights that after being up a couple times, he would end up in our bed because momma just needed sleep - and he would always sleep better when he came to our bed. Overall though, I could count on one (or two) hands the number of times this happened. We didn't want it to become a habit - because we could see that happening with him. Our little girl and little boy are two very different people, and he would be the one to want to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed every night.

Now that they are a little older, I sometimes wish that they would come in our room in the morning to snuggle, or come sleep with momma if daddy happens to be out of town! We spend a lot of time together (I'm a WAHM - running an in-home daycare) so our days are busy, but we stick with our bedtime routine - and the only times that we don't snuggle and read books before bedtime, is when they are at one of the grandparent's houses for the night, or if we come home late from somewhere (usually one of the grandparent's houses) and they fall asleep in the car. But even with all the time we spend together, I wish we had more time to snuggle and just slow down every day.

On the weekends they usually get up before we do, so the opportunity could be there, but we've been on a different level of the house for nearly a year so gates are locked now when we go to bed. I bet if I left the gates open we'd have some snuggly visitors in the morning...wonder what my hubby would think of the whole thing. I haven't discussed this "issue" with him ;-)  Just seems like it might be a more pleasant way to wake up in the morning (two smiley faces) versus "oh, the kids are up, one of us better go get the day started" or the ever famous "MOMMA! DAD!" (our son yelling from the gate). Sometimes the kids will just get up and play together, but sometimes not, and sometimes they are in more of a fighting mood in the morning.

Two smiling faces to snuggle with for a bit (plus my hubby's smiling face!) before we head to the kitchen for breakfast together sounds like a pretty good start to a Sunday morning.

They are still young enough to be snuggly and I don't know how long that lasts!?!?