My daughter was named after her dad's Aunt, but King is a family name on my mom's side, and so my Grandma loves the name. My Grandma has a cousin, uncle and grandfather named King. My Great Great Grandfather King might be the son of my Grandma's Grandma Hatchet, a prostitute on the Trail of Tears. I'm not sure if he was a big tip who started this all, but I'll ask my Grandma. I sing my King a poem we made up, and a line goes, "Diamond ring, then girls named King."
We're sleep training Kingsley, a soon to be five year old. I've laid next to her till she falls asleep almost every night since her birth, then I walk out of her room and resume whatever I was doing the hour before putting her to bed. George has always been a great sleeper, easy to put down even, and he still is. He crawls in bed, we read a couple books, I give him a kiss, and walk out of the room. Kiki never did this. There were times when I tried, but she always seemed to win out. At this point, I'm certain she has the intellect to know I'm not putting her to bed and then walking out the front door. Ten minutes after she went to bed tonight, she called out, "Are you guys still home?"
I was busy working in the kitchen, thats maybe 15 feet from her bedroom door, so she could hear me toiling away. I shouted back, "Haha, yes, and we aren't planning on going anywhere, so you can go to sleep."
Last week I had a dream someone was standing outside of my window. I wasn't in my real-life bedroom, but it felt like I was. I could see a silhouette, he was a tall, big man, and stood cross armed, watching me. For some reason I had my dog on a leash, and my mom came into the room. I started walking away, worried about this guy, and told her, "Mom, I'm sleeping with you." She told me I couldn't, but I just ignored her, and said, "Yes, I am." After I woke up, I was freaking out. It took a little while to calm down. Every time I heard a creak I talked myself from going into full-blown fear factor that someone was outside my window. Kiki was sleeping next to me, and had she not, I would have walked down the hall and crawled in her bed with her.
Tonight as Kingsley kept calling out to me, asking for hugs and reassurance, I'd go in her room and give her a pep talk, "You can do it! You'll get your present soon!" I promised to buy her a "Chubby Puppy" if she goes to bed on her own tonight and tomorrow night. This toy has a perverse sounding name, but is actually the latest and greatest over priced plastic creation, a tiny windup dog with a magnetic mouth.
I don't have a problem with in-the-middle-of-the-night bed shuffle because I understand that panic, and how easily it can escalate. It can be extinguished just as quickly with a snuggle, preventing what might bring on a heart attack. Ultimately, I need her to fall asleep on her own, so I'm not laying in bed from 8-9pm, getting a faux power nap, thats keeping me awake longer than I want. If she wanders down to my bed a couple hours later, thats fine. I expect the same in return. After a bad dream, I know my King will protect me.
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