We Go To Bed Together: Its A Rule

For anyone wondering, James did get home safe and sound the other day.

He did end up sleeping on the couch, but the argument disagreement did get resolved before lunch on Sunday. Even when I get mad, I don't stay mad.

Saturday night aside though, we have an unofficial rule in our house. We go to bed together.

You thought I meant that huh? Oh how I wish! I would love to brag that we're currently living it up like teenagers, but then I'd be lying (we still have kids that live at home after all). Last night he ended up with a migraine and was in bed by 8 o'clock. Now, I don't typically stay up too late, but that was just a little too early for me.

When I finally crawled in a couple hours later, I was reminded of the reasons why we don't go to bed separately.

1. The Taco: Sadly, I'm not talking about the tastie kind. There have been several occasions during our relationship that we've considered investing in a second down comforter. Neither one of us stays stationary while we're sleeping. We toss, we turn, we roll over... Unconsciously, sometimes we take the whole blanket with us while we're doing it. There have been plenty of nights where one or the other has woken up with icicles sticking out of their nose because the other one has hijacked the covers. If one of us goes to bed before the other, there's no hope in unwrapping the comatose person from the blanket taco. There'a better chance of finding the lost city of Atlantis than there is of getting even a corner out of that tangled mess. We both know at this point just to grab the couch blankie before settling in.

2. The Starfish Position: I think there is some part deep in our subconscious that keeps us from accidentally assaulting our partners while we're sleeping. I believe that somehow we just know that they're next to us and it keeps us from involuntarily dropping elbows into their forehead (most of the time anyway). Normally, we're both side sleepers, but when we're the only one in the bed, all bets are off. We are magnetically sucked into the center of the bed and we unfold like a banana peel. It requires all of one's strength to shove ease the other person back to their side of the bed without waking them.

3. The Nocturnal Musical: When I was in high school I used to fall asleep with the radio on. James, on the other hand, used to fall asleep to the sound of the TV (oh wait, he still does that). You would think that a little bit of, um, background noise wouldn't bother either one of us. Ha! White noise, maybe not, the mucus gargling esophagus band however is more than either of us can handle. Until we moved in together, no on ever told me I snored! Evidently though I'm loud enough to keep him awake and that's really saying something. I'm convinced he suffers from home induced narcolepsy. We'll be sitting on the couch talking one minute and then I look over and he's baby necking it while his eyes roll back in his head... But we're both guilty of producing enough noise while we're sleeping that I'm surprised our neighbors haven't stopped by to complain. Thank goodness the children can sleep through a tornado, because that's what it sounds like coming from our bedroom at night.

So, after snatching the blanket off the couch, taking 10 minutes to heave him back to his side of the bed, and poking him several a few times I finally got to sleep about an hour (or so) after getting into bed. Needless to say, we'll be going to bed together tonight. I really need to catch up on my sleep!

Indoor Pool and Competition

I've got about 20 minutes left of peace before it'll be time to wake the monsters and get them ready for the parade. Does it make me a terrible parent that both Lena and Anne have been coughing almost non-stop for the past two days and I'm still going to take them anyway? Eh, even if it does, I'm going to justify it and say that they need some fresh air...

Last night at tuck in time, competition reared its ugly head. Even though James and I have been living together for a year, Anne still has some jealousy issues about Lena getting to be with her dad everyday when she doesn't. They're getting better about it for sure, but it still pops up every now and again. When we first started cohabiting any time Lena would get near him, Anne would rush over and climb up into his lap to block any access she might have. Since he's not Lena's dad she really doesn't take much note of these things.

We always make it a point to tell the girls that we love them equally and no one child is more special than the other. We don't treat them any differently either. They're both equally snuggled and equally yelled at. Especially because they're usually in cahoots together when trouble arises. Last night they put on their bathing suits and hopped in the tub together. They ended up flooding the bathroom and breaking the sink "to save Willie" and both got a decent piece of my mind.

After cleaning up their self made pool, we had them get into jammies and climb in bed. Lena takes eons to get situated, which I'm pretty certain is just a stall tactic. She has to fluff all of her pillows, arrange her stuffed animals, and the blankets have to be just perfect before she'll actually lay down. As she's doing this nightly dramatic routine, Anne is complaining about getting the first kisses. We alternate between the two girls typically to make sure that neither one of them if favored over the other. Anne had first kisses the night before so it was Lena's turn.

Anne was having NONE of that. There was a lot of whining and pouting because she felt she should always get first kisses on the weekend because Lena's gets to live with us and she doesn't. Again I had to explain that we love them equally, but I highly doubt that in Anne's 7 year old mind that's enough. She's just one of those kids where she has to be the center of attention all the time or her world is just not right. I'm sure that stems a lot from the fact that she has four step siblings at her mother's house and our other one, Paige. She's the last in that bunch of 6 kids and Paige says it's a constant competition there for attention too.

Thankfully, Lena is heading into those pre-teen years and is more understanding to her "little sister." She told us to go ahead and give Anne first kisses. At first I thought that was mighty big of her. We proceeded to give kisses and then Lena chimes in with...

"My kisses are better anyways, they have germs!"

Ummmm... There goes the glimpse of maturity. In 2 seconds she proved that's she's still just a kid. Such as life I suppose.