For so long I've been thinking that bedtime rituals are for kids. We have a ritual at home by which a story is read every night to Kamala as she nestles against me. Only when the story is done is it time for sleep. She insists on the story no matter what else came in the day, or how late it is.
Some days it gets tiresome, like the time when after watching July 4th fireworks we came home at 10:45 pm. We were both tired, but storytime it was. Storytime cannot be foregone for any reason.
And then the sleep itself is a funny ritual. We sleep in the same room. Our beds are joined together, as the room is small. She has this whole entire bed, but somehow manages to roll over to the partition between the beds - the point where the mattresses join....And there she will lie, fast asleep when I wake up in the morning - her body on that line, and nestled against mine. I would often joke that with two big beds, why oh why does she need to sleep in that narrow gap?! And why does she need to wriggle around disturbing my sleep as well?
Some days I placed one pillow in the gap, one on Kamala's other side, and had her sleep fair and square in the middle of the bed. But come morning, she would somehow manage to land in the gap, having "surfed over" the the intervening pillow....Of late she's been insisting that the gap is the most comfortable place to sleep and heads straight for it.....God alone knows why :). Some days I'll find her cold and burrowing into my blanket for warmth, as she has kicked off hers in her sleep. I would wake up annoyed, find her blanket, cover her up and go back to sleep.
Its the 6th day since she left with dad for summer vacation. Now I am unable to fall asleep without reading a bedtime story to her, and without her body pushing mine in the night, as she shifts in the "gap". As uncomfortable as the pushing and wriggling were, they seem to have become necessary now for my sleep to go undisturbed. Even the occasional blanket stealing would be welcome.
I find myself being awake till midnight, and unable to stay asleep. I keep waking up and drifting off. Sleeping with her stuffed animals doesn't work. Reading a bedtime story to myself doesn't work either. It seems I need to have a kid to read to, no matter how late it is.
Odd are the ways of life.
8 comments:
I understand how you feel... but relax, Priya, she'll be back real soon... :)
As madhu said,
Konja naaL dhaane. Best idea thookam varadhukku. Neraya blog hop pannunga. Pozhudhum pogum. Thookamum vandhudum :-)
Thanks Madhu, Ferrari and Ramchi. I'm counting the days for when she comes back :)
Sugamana sumai - very true.
Priya.
Very poignant write up, as always... She'll be back even before you realise... take care..:)
Dear Priya,
Very well written..
As someone said, doesnt absence make hearts grow fonder??
Use this time, to recoup your energy, catch up on sleep and before you know, the apple of your eye would be with you..
Take care,
Raji
"absence make hearts grow fonder"?
i'd think of the situation as just the opposite. We just dont realise the value of something as long as we hold it in our possession. Only when it's gone, do we realize it's value. Glad i'll be, when the next time she steals ur blanket, if u smile rather than be cross with her!
Cherish ur angel when she returns :).
Beautifully written, Priya. Recently, I was home for a few days and J at daycare. How I longed for her - it felt so silent and empty without her.
Each day I came to pick her up way before my regular time and she was not done playing yet.
Your precious one will be back soon !
I know EXACTLY how you feel. It gets so tiresome sometimes that all you need is a break but when they are gone for more than 1 day, it's disconcerting.
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