We set them up during the week of Spring Break. The first night we had the bunk beds, Avery asked if she could sleep on the bottom bunk and have a slumber party with Samuel. Since Isaac was just a little over a year old at the time, and nowhere near being ready to move to a big bed, we asked Samuel is he was okay with that, and he said that he was. So, Avery slept on the bottom bed all week long. But we warned her from the very first night that on Sunday night she'd have to go back to her own bed since Samuel had school on Monday morning.
WELL, Sunday night came and Avery threw an all out fit because she did not want to go back to her own bed. We forced her to sleep in her own bed though. Avery had struggled with going to bed for as long as we could remember. Most nights up until that point, she'd lay in her bed crying and screaming. Sometimes, no matter what we did to get her to calm down, she'd cry and scream for hours, literally. We knew what had triggered these sleep issues. It all started when I was pregnant with Isaac and we had to get her out of the baby bed. I mean, she was 3 1/2 years old, after all, and I felt like I HAD to get her out of the baby bed. Agh! If I had it to do all over again...
Anyway, at first we tried positive reinforcement, but nothing we tried worked. We tried a nightlight, we tried a lamp, we tried stuffed animals, blankets, music, reading books, saying prayers, everything! Nothing worked. So then we moved on to discipline tactics, but still nothing worked. Night after night, hours of her screaming in bed and making us miserable. So we moved on to punishing her when she would throw a fit and scream in her bed at night. But still, each and every night, bedtime was a nightmare. I'd watch the Super Nanny and try her techniques. They didn't work. I'd ask friends and read books. Seriously, nothing worked. So by the time we got the bunk beds, this had been going on for over a year. It was an exhausting year when it came to bedtimes. But when Avery slept in Samuel's room that week of Spring Break, she did not throw fits... she fell asleep quickly and calmly. Putting her back in her own bed, all alone in her own bedroom was torture for her. She hated being alone at night. Funny enough, I hate sleeping alone and I hate sleeping in a bed that I don't feel comfortable in. So, I could relate.
I remember questioning several family members, asking them if they thought there was anything wrong with letting Samuel and Avery share a room. And every single one of them said no... My mom reminded me that I shared a room with my younger brother for several years when we were children. And my sister told me that she knew of several people in older generations who had to share rooms out of necessity because they just simply didn't have big enough houses for all the kids to each have their own room. I realized that if sharing a room helped Avery to fall asleep more peacefully, thus making our bedtime routine in our home more positive, then why not allow it so long as Samuel was okay with it. So, we talked to Samuel and he really wanted to share a room with Avery. And Avery was thrilled with the idea too. We kept Avery's bedroom just the way it had been, but we moved all of her bedding onto Samuel's bottom bunk bed. And that's how the sleeping arrangements have been for Samuel and Avery for 2 1/2 years now. Avery still had sleeping issues from time to time, but considering where she came from, this sleeping situation proved to be a huge improvement.
So, you might be able to understand why we were so shocked when about a month ago, Avery announced that she wanted to sleep in her own bed that night. WHAT?!?! And so, she did. She made up her mind that it was time, and just went for it. I'll admit, we were not very optimistic that she'd actually stay in her own bed that first night. Once she got in there and the sun went down, we were pretty sure that she'd change her mind. But she didn't. She slept in there all night long, and she's stayed in there for the past month. And the really funny part of this story is that Avery is not sleeping by herself after all. She has a new sleeping buddy! Lid'l Lee, it would seem, has decided that she would like to share a bed with Avery at night now. It's so incredibly cute!!! And Avery loves having Lid'l Lee there.
Perhaps equally as cute, is that every single morning when Maggie hears Isaac waking up, she will stand at his bedroom door wagging her tail until I open his bedroom door. Then she will go plowing into his room and jump straight into his bed. It's the funniest thing. She gets so excited to see him. And Isaac will just sit up in his bed and start loving on Maggie, saying, "Oh, good girl, Maggie." It really is adorable, especially since Maggie takes up 3/4 of the bed...
And as for me, well in the past when Hector has traveled for business, it's been next to impossible for me to get a good night's sleep. I just can't seem to ever relax enough to actually get into a deep sleep. So I tend to stay up most of the night. But since we've welcomed Maggie into our family, I must say that there's just something about having this big dog sleeping at the side of my bed that has given me a certain level of security that I have not had up until this point. You can't ever be sure unless you train your dog to be a watch dog, how exactly your dog will respond to strangers. Well, we had an incident happen in our home with someone that Maggie perceived as a threat/stranger, and let me just tell you, her growling and barking made me feel extremely safe. All I can say is, her previous owners trained her REALLY well...
And now, I think it's time for Isaac and I to visit Miss Nappy's house! Zzzzzzzzzzz.....
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