Sometimes, They Win

Max, you know, that sweet baby of mine who's nearly four, has totally got my number.

I've never been a fan of kids sleeping in bed with me. I mean, the idea of it is kind of sweet but the reality of it with my kids is more like a kick-boxing match. I get no sweet feelings out of these sessions, but bruises and sleeplessness. Therefore, when each of the kids has come to this stage during which they try to crawl into bed, I nip it in the bud right away.

Except for Max, who I know I mentioned is the baby, he is not quite as restless a sleeper. He sometimes comes into bed and I don't realize he's there until it's time to wake-up. Now this has come and gone in stages like the other kids. I've carried him back upstairs. Now, I send him back up there on his own. Nelson and I agreed, if he comes down in the middle of the night, it's back upstairs, but if he times it so he's there right before the alarm goes off, he gets to stay.

But every once in awhile, I'm too tired to fight the fight and I let him climb in. This, in a large part, has to do with the way in which he approaches the situation. He doesn't just push me over or say, "I want to sleep with you." No, he's much smoother than that.

Sometime right before dawn he comes down and I feel a little tap and open my eyes to a pair of baby blues looking right at me. "May I please snuggle with you?" he asks in a sweet, soft tone. Then I, in a total puddle of sleepy mush, say, "Sure."

Last night we made a very big deal about today being his Christmas party and the fact that Nelson and I were going to join him for lunch. So this morning he was up much earlier than normal. I awoke to the stare of eyes at the level of my own. "Can I snuggle with you?" In he climbed.

We settled in and I closed my eyes. But there in the dark I felt his little eyes staring at me so I gave in and oepned mine back up. He was bright-eyed and staring. The minute he saw me awake, he asked, "Is today my Christmas party?"

"Yes buddy," I whispered, "so get some rest."

He clapped his little hands and almost shouted, "Yeah!" He was so cute, my giggle woke Nelson up. By the time he asked me what was so funny, Max was out of there and up, no snuggling required.