Musical Beds

Isabelle is absolutely delighted with her little sister, not that the boys don't love her as well, but there seems to be a special connection for Isabelle with her sister. Therefor, we, especially Isabelle, decided it was time to establish a "girl's room" and a "boy's room." So all day we talked about the big move and all parties were excited as we (Jer) took apart Daniel's crib/toddler bed and put up Luci's future crib. Three little sets of hands helped daddy move various pieces of Daniel's bed to the "boy room," drag the mattress through the hallway, screw rails, walls, toys and each other together, and finally lean the mattress against the bunk-beds for a far too exciting indoor slide, before the change was complete.

The excitement was building as all prepared for bed, and the anticipation for a good night's rest was high until big sister realized Luci would not be sleeping in her crib that night, but in the bassinet next to her mother, whom she desperately wants to visit multiple times during the night. We had not realized Luci would "keep Isabelle safe" during the night.

So, Peter, Isabelle and Daniel all lie down in the same room while Joe-joe (the cat) enjoys the nursery by himself. Despite our hopes and pleadings with his guardian angel, Peter can not help but whisper, in tones only audible to Daniel's ears, tauntings to make any big brother proud. Daniel, being an excellent younger sibling, returns these taunts with ear piercing "NOOOOOOO"s!!! Thus, the music begins, and Peter and Isabelle, losing game one, are removed to Mom and Dad's bed, until the tauntings resume, this time by little sister who having now lost game two is exiled to the nursery, yes, without the six week old for protection. But, after some intense protest, all three are asleep and Mom and Dad naively return the older two to their beds, place Luci in the bassinet and settle in for a good night's rest.

At some unknown hour of the night Peter wakes, crying in anguish over a toy theft suffered in his sleep which causes Daddy to fly out of bed, hoping to comfort the victim before the other dreamers are disturbed. Unfortunately, Peter is not quickly comforted and Daniel, waking, realizes his opportunity and threatens mutinous screaming if not taken to bed with Daddy. Luci hearing his cries decides it is time to nurse, and joins Mommy in bed. Daniel's demands are met, and Daniel joins Daddy, Mommy and Luci in bed. After what seems like hours of poking, prodding, kicking and squirming, Mommy and Luci retreat to the nursery bed and Daddy re-negotiates with Daniel. Succeeding, Daddy returns Daniel to his bed, but Peter's toy thieves have returned and Daddy now joins Peter in bed to stand guard. The movement wakes Isabelle, who decides to try her luck in Mom and Dad's bed, but finding no one there, returns to her own. After spending hours on guard, Daddy attempts to return to his own bed, but Daniel, armed with new tactics, cuts him off. Remembering the last negotiation, Daddy heads for the nursery, dumping Daniel in Luci's crib, and Mommy and Luci return to their bed, only to find Isabelle spread over three fourths of it. Leaving Daddy to fight for a spot on the bed, Mommy and Luci now retreat to the recliner. Uncertain as to how Daddy's battle transpired, but longing for a less vertical bed, Mommy and Luci cautiously creep back to their bed to enjoy the final moments of the night before some child rushes in to hold their sleeping sister.

As a testimony to the harm caused by sleep deprivation, we have chosen to continue this and similar routines every night, not because it would be too difficult to take Daniel's bed apart and return it to the nursery, nor because the children all delight in "sleeping" in the same room, but because we have felt our lives lacked a certain level of excitement the past few weeks and this is our cheapest solution.