We Have A Night Roamer

‘Twas half passed twelve and all through the house not a creature was stirring…unless you consider my toddler dressed up like a dragon a creature. Over the last six months these middle of the night antics have become a regular occurrence in our house, but honestly, I’m just too tired to care.

Every night we put her to bed around 7pm. We go through the whole process: the story, the tuck in, the hugs, the nightlight. We go down the list of all her nighttime needs for blissful sleep. She seems ready. She goes without a fight. Then just as I’m about to fall asleep I’ll hear the door creak open. For a quick minute, when we foolishly thought this was a phase we would get up and walk her back into her room. But after getting up multiple times a night, every night, we were exhausted.

And I’m not ashamed to say it…we gave up.

During the first couple of months she would still wake me from time to time, usually because she would come in to our room and ask me to zip up her costume/put on a necklace/help her push a box of toys into the living room. You know, the usual. Now I’m pretty sure she doesn’t bother trying to wake me anymore because I am not meeting her with the level of enthusiasm she would like me to have when she invites me to build a fort/play doctor/rearrange furniture/etc.

Over time we have worked out an agreement both parties can live with. She plays by herself and doesn’t wake anyone up and we accept that we will just never know what we are going to wake up to. Costumes everywhere? Why not! A stuffed animal convention in the living room? Party! A chalk mural in her closet? Absolutely!

Seriously, who has this much energy in the middle of the night? It’s like she hiding a reserve battery under her pillow.

Instead of fighting we focused our energy on what we needed to do to keep her and the house safe while she roams. Making sure the gate to the stairs is closed to restrict her access to the house, lock the cabinets, hide the markers and crayons. And lastly, out of an abundance of caution, there are under no circumstances any musical instruments left within her little arm’s reach…just in case inspiration strikes at the stroke of midnight.

 

 

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