Friday, November 26, 2010

It's the End of the World as We Know it, and I Do Not Feel Fine

Last Sunday we went to lunch with some friends after church. Between the two families we have five kids, so it wasn't a shocker that our conversation rolled around to topics such as potty training and how long is inappropriately long to keep a child in a crib. Our friend, Andrew, said that their four year old is in a big girl bed but still calls for them every morning when she wakes up to come get her out of it.

I like that plan.

And then I said something about Lainey being out of her crib since mastering the potty and that of course our Littles will be staying in their cribs until the day they can get out of them.

Right then and there I should have stood up in front of God and Ruby Tuesday's and yelled

I take it back! I'm totally kidding! I never meant to say anything about anyone being able to CLIMB OUT OF THEIR BEDS! Please, dear Lord, strike that comment from the record. Thank you and Amen.

But instead I just dug back into my salad and sliders, completely unaware of the travesty I had caused.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

Superstitious? Really?

I'd like to say that I'm not. In most things in life, I'm a pretty level headed gal. I know that God has a plan and a purpose for those He loves and I believe His words to be true.

But I'm also a baseball wife. And you can't have been in the game for as long as we have without being at least a teensy, tiny bit superstitious. If you have ever sat through an extra inning game, it's because someone in the family section said

Wow, this game's going fast.

That will slow it down, every.single.time.

Also, if your loved one is struggling at the plate and then has a great night while you happen to be eating an extra large coney with cheese.....

You eat it again the next night.

Anything to help.

All that rambling to say, I'm not really superstitious. But I do think the good Lord has a sense of humor. Because two hours after that lunch......

Anna climbed out of her crib. The ironic thing here is that Emily is the more advanced one of the two when is comes to scaling tall buildings in a single bound.

So because it was Anna and not Emily, we chose to believe it was a fluke. Never gonna happen again. Andy even said

did you remember to put her in the bed?

Now listen, I know I can be absent minded at times. But nap time? That's the one part of the day where I can get things done without "help". I'm almost positive I wouldn't throw one gal in a bed and leave the other loose to torment her.

Almost positive.

So to play it safe, we gated the door that night. Know what's worse than a toddler who can get out of bed?

A toddler who can get out of her room.

The next morning when I got to the top of the stairs, there she was, my little Anna-Boo just hanging over the gate, waiting for someone to change her droopy drawers.

Apparently, this was not a fluke.

So we started panicking hashing out our options. Should she be punished? Do we put her mattress on the floor? What about a crib tent? Maybe bubble wrap? Or a staple gun?

Then we realized that this is just part of her development. She figured out how to get out of the darn thing, now we need to figure out how to keep her safe.

It wasn't really going to be an issue to take the side rail off her crib and put a toddler rail up. Except for one thing.

We have twins.

Have I mentioned that before? Oh really? Sorry.

Anyhoo, the new dilemma became what about Emily? Do we take her out too? Will they just run back and forth all night long? Will we ever sleep again? What if we don't take her out? Will she be traumatized by the freedom that her sister has? How much is therapy for a two year old? Will we ever sleep again?

So I called our pediatrician. Who immediately laughed at me (with me?).

Once the laughter subsided she assured me that we would not be harming Em's mental health by leaving her in the crib. She even said that it might be her safe place and we shouldn't take it from her until she lets us know she's ready.

She also said that we had to get Anna out, or make it safe for her to get out. She sees a broken clavicle and/or a broken arm every year from little ones who launch themselves out of their beds.

And so, Andy took the rail off that afternoon and so far no major calamities have occurred. She sleeps all night and Emily doesn't seem bothered by it at all.

Nap time, which I thought was going to be awful, has gone well, for the most part.

Except for that one day when both babies thought that pants and diapers should become optional.

Three times.

Will we ever sleep again?

5 comments:

  1. Joe still calls for us from his bed every morning and after every nap. He will be four in April. Sometimes I wish he would just get up already, but I guess I should be thankful :) Oh, and you are so right about the baseball superstitions. I will have to relearn that aspect of the game so I'm not jinxing everyone around.

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  2. My aunt, Colleen Endres, directed me to your blog, and I loved this most recent post. You do a great job of sharing with candor and humor. Blessings!

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  3. Alysa, you'll be back in the swing of things in no time. Pun intended.

    Sarah, Glad you found me! I checked out your blog and see that you have a little boy on the way. I have no advice in that department. Blessings on you and yours!

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  4. I love reading your blog. It cracks me up every time! I'm glad you get all the fun experiences first with your girls and I can come on here and see what worked and didn't work for you! Lol. I'm not looking forward to the day my girls start climbing out.

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  5. Erin!
    I'm so glad I can give you a giggle, anything for a fellow twin mama!
    F and G are so darn cute, I just looked at their Christmas pics.
    Hope you have a great week!
    Jessie

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