It was just a matter of time. . . .
This morning, while Edison was savoring the last precious minutes of the middle school lock-in at church, Mark and I awoke to the sounds of Caroline talking to herself in her room. This is not an oddity. In fact, when she was still in her crib, she would carry on entire conversations with herself once she woke up. We still have the baby monitor in our room. . .just in case.
This morning, we heard some of the traditional early-morning chatter, and figured it was time to go in and see "Little Miss Sunshine" (which, I know, is the title to a movie -- but there's no significance there...trust me.) Mark got about halfway to her room, and met her in the Dining Room.
I heard, "Well, come on. You can go say 'hi' to Mommy." And she did. She climbed up in bed with me, and helped me greet the morning with a smile.
Fast forward to this afternoon. Mark was getting the tires replaced on his car. Edison was asleep. And, after needing a "change of scenery in the Pull-up department" Caroline was headed for a nap. I put her in bed, turned off her light, and told her I'd see her soon. Prophetic words sometimes bite us back. No?
The phone rang a few minutes later. It was Mark's mom. We talked for a few minutes, and suddenly -- there's Caroline! She played, talked on the phone, read books. . .basically her usual stuff. Only she was supposed to be laying down.
Mary--I am not blaming you or your phone call. Stay with me. It gets better.
Cut to this evening. Bathtime is over. Caroline's fourth successful visit to the potty has just concluded. She has pajamas on. She has dry hair. Her church clothes are laying out in her room -- ready for Daddy to dress her in the morning. We finish singing "Jesus Loves Me," and "You are my Sunshine," and I hand her off to Mark for bedtime.
I hear them go in her room. I hand the computer over to Edison for some homework, and I head to my bedroom to make the official "summer/winter" clothes swap. Once Mark has Caroline in bed, he joins me as I fold and hang up clothes, and we watch the beginning of the (pitiful) UT/Alabama game. Seriously. . . this game sucks.
Suddenly I hear Edison's voice, "Caroline? I think you're supposed to be in bed."
Mark goes darting out of our room, scoops up Little Miss Moonbeam (it's evening, duh) and promptly disciplines her and puts her back to bed. When I surface from sorting/folding/storing, I can clearly see the child safety gate in her doorway. And, rather than watching the atrocity that is the UT game from the comfort of our room, Mark is stationed in the Living Room--keeping watch over the gated doorway.
Yeah. It was only a matter of time.
Some people may think the safety gate is a horrid thing. It's a matter of safety.
The girl can open the oven door.
The girl likes electical outlets (covered or not).
The girl can open some of our doors -- mostly internal ones.
This move is to keep her safe. It helps us know she's safe.
. . .and getting a good night's sleep never hurt anyone, did it?
This morning, we heard some of the traditional early-morning chatter, and figured it was time to go in and see "Little Miss Sunshine" (which, I know, is the title to a movie -- but there's no significance there...trust me.) Mark got about halfway to her room, and met her in the Dining Room.
I heard, "Well, come on. You can go say 'hi' to Mommy." And she did. She climbed up in bed with me, and helped me greet the morning with a smile.
Fast forward to this afternoon. Mark was getting the tires replaced on his car. Edison was asleep. And, after needing a "change of scenery in the Pull-up department" Caroline was headed for a nap. I put her in bed, turned off her light, and told her I'd see her soon. Prophetic words sometimes bite us back. No?
The phone rang a few minutes later. It was Mark's mom. We talked for a few minutes, and suddenly -- there's Caroline! She played, talked on the phone, read books. . .basically her usual stuff. Only she was supposed to be laying down.
Mary--I am not blaming you or your phone call. Stay with me. It gets better.
Cut to this evening. Bathtime is over. Caroline's fourth successful visit to the potty has just concluded. She has pajamas on. She has dry hair. Her church clothes are laying out in her room -- ready for Daddy to dress her in the morning. We finish singing "Jesus Loves Me," and "You are my Sunshine," and I hand her off to Mark for bedtime.
I hear them go in her room. I hand the computer over to Edison for some homework, and I head to my bedroom to make the official "summer/winter" clothes swap. Once Mark has Caroline in bed, he joins me as I fold and hang up clothes, and we watch the beginning of the (pitiful) UT/Alabama game. Seriously. . . this game sucks.
Suddenly I hear Edison's voice, "Caroline? I think you're supposed to be in bed."
Mark goes darting out of our room, scoops up Little Miss Moonbeam (it's evening, duh) and promptly disciplines her and puts her back to bed. When I surface from sorting/folding/storing, I can clearly see the child safety gate in her doorway. And, rather than watching the atrocity that is the UT game from the comfort of our room, Mark is stationed in the Living Room--keeping watch over the gated doorway.
Yeah. It was only a matter of time.
Some people may think the safety gate is a horrid thing. It's a matter of safety.
The girl can open the oven door.
The girl likes electical outlets (covered or not).
The girl can open some of our doors -- mostly internal ones.
This move is to keep her safe. It helps us know she's safe.
. . .and getting a good night's sleep never hurt anyone, did it?
posted by Angie at 9:57 PM
10 Comments:
Well, we did know it was only a matter of time before the amazement of the big girl bed wore off...and now she can escape without having to juggle over the sides of a crib. She's growing up!
I never thought of using a safety gate with our sleepwalkers. I wonder if they would have helped? I'm glad to see you posting again :) Our trip was wonderful and I'm only a little bit happy to be home (lol) but it's back to reality.
ain't nothing wrong with using a baby monitor, my parents still use one for my 7 year old brother since his room is far away from theirs. good way to keep tabs on the rugrats ;-)
i've actually thought about using a baby gate in javen's doorway whenever he graduates to a big boy bed...which i hope isn't going to be any time soon!!!
Different sort of critter, but when we had had cats, we tried to keep them upstairs using safety gates. Two of them, stacked one above the other.
And one cat climbed them both.
I hope your active one is kept behind just a single gate, and for a long, long time.
yup... it's a matter of time. She's growing up...
Jenni was 5 yo and wandered away from me on the Saturday before christmas in a huge shopping mall..... ACK! but we found her asleep in a ladies fitting room, a few feet from where we lsot each toher...
Oh my. The fun begins. :)
I'm a big kid now :)
but did you watch the video clip i put up especially for you?
A friend of mine had the doors of her girl's bedroom cut in half turning the into Dutch doors. They kept the top open... bottom locked when needed. They really looked cute! Very practical!! Just an alternative to the gate... for what it's worth.
Joni
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