Last summer, I wrote about feeling like my days of bouncing a baby/toddler to sleep were about over. Indeed, within two months of my entry, we packed away the blue exercise ball and Avery was bounced no longer.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially because Avery’s bedtime is so different these days. She doesn’t need much from us aside from a glass of water and a trip to the bathroom – but she does like someone to stay with her. “Lay with me. In my bed,” she’ll say before scooting over her little body so I can climb in beside her. When in bed I sometimes sing to her, but more often we just talk, laugh, or silently hug. And when I tell her I have to go, she’ll respond, “No, stay. Just a few more minutes.”

By this time of night, I’m usually wiped out, and I have plenty of other things I need or want to do (like make dinner, check e-mail or, y’know, just relax). It’s also not the easiest, or most comfortable, to fit my 5’9″ body into a toddler bed. But despite this, I never deny the request to lay with her. Just as I knew that summer that our bouncing days were limited, I know the days of her asking for this won’t last forever. Our time to lay next to each other in her little bed, with her touching my face or giggling and calling me “silly billy,” will pass by quickly, so I try to cherish it.

And I always stay for just a few more minutes.

-M

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under 76.Two kids-October 12. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.