Hmph!

I have been sick since Sunday. Full on cold, congestion, the works. The children came home from their father's on Sunday. I gave them the cold too (trust me, I feel bad enough). Yesterday, I went to my MD with the children. He checked all of us and prescribed some meds. My daughter was listening to the whole conversation with our MD, including the part where he told me "You are the culprit you know. Their cold is 2 days behind yours. It was you who made them sick". I hadn't realized that my daughter was listening, but I found out later that night.

When we got home, I was getting everyone to bed. As background, my son has been sleeping in his own bed for months. My daughter, who has resorted to carrying a security blanket, refuses to sleep alone. I have tried many times to get her to sleep in her own bed, but she refuses to do so. She sleeps in my bed, pressed up against me. To the point that if I get up, her little hand instantly starts searching for my body, smacking the bed, looking for me. When she doesn't "feel" me, she wakes up. Sleep for me is always disturbed, as I will almost always wake up to the feel of a foot in my face, an arm across my neck, or something similar.

Last night, she came into my room, took her teddy bear and blankie and walked out. When I called out to her, saying it was bedtime, she came back and said "I heard what our doctor said. YOU made me sick. YOU have germs. I'm not sleeping with you.

I didn't know what to say. Part of me was offended, as if sleeping with me was her doing me a favour. The other part was very amused. "OK, well I think that's a good idea honey. Since we are all sick, maybe it's a good idea for all of us to sleep in our own beds. May I tuck you in?"

"Yes, but no kissing and spreading germs". (Holy germo-phobe!)

"OK".

I tucked her in. She said she wasn't coming back to my room no matter what, and she reminded me that after 3 nights in his own bed, I bought my son an alarm clock of his own. She reminded me that she was promised the same and advised me that she would be doing this from now on to earn her own alarm clock. I agreed.

True to her word, she slept through the night in her own room. I was shocked. I thought she wouldn't be able to do it. She advised me in the morning that she saw spooky things in her room at night, but that the "Spookies are not as bad as the germies" that I was carrying. How nice!

I am totally amazed. I've been trying to coax her for months to sleep on her own. It took my sharing germs to get her to do it.

Kids are so peculiar.

Look at her, all big and independent. My little baby is growing up.... Sniff, sniff.