Simple! I leave the hall light on and the door open.
"Waaaaah!" Screams Lucia, awakened by the beam of hall light.
I close the door to a crack and switch from hall light to bathroom light. Lucia sleeps soundly.
"Mooooooom!" Shouts Elsie. "It's too dark! I'm afraid of the dark!"
"Mooooooom!" Shouts Elsie. "It's too dark! I'm afraid of the dark!"
"Get a nightlight." Says my friend.
"Get a nightlight." Says my mom.
"Here's a nightlight." Says Hub.
We live in an old house. There are only two electrical outlets in the girls room. One is behind a bed. The other is adjacent to Lucia's crib. A nightlight here wakes Lucia but casts only shadows on Elsie.
"Do they make nightlights with extension cords?" I wonder. My dad does an internet search. They do!
I head to a local toy store where a woman produces a small, battery-operated globe, painted with hearts and peace signs, and perforated with tiny constellations of stars and dots and little fish shapes. It works on a timer. One button turns it on for 45 minutes. The other button changes the color. I choose the blue and green one, as Elsie has recently rejected her former favorite colors of pink and purple.
"Mooooom! Why are all of my jackets pink!? BLUE is my favorite color?"
"Well, Elsie, a year ago, when I bought these coats, you wouldn't let anything blue touch your skin. Back then PINK was your favorite color."
"Well now it's BLUE! Like ELSA from THE MOVIE FROZEN!"
"Mooooom! Why are all of my jackets pink!? BLUE is my favorite color?"
"Well, Elsie, a year ago, when I bought these coats, you wouldn't let anything blue touch your skin. Back then PINK was your favorite color."
"Well now it's BLUE! Like ELSA from THE MOVIE FROZEN!"
Blue globe, it is.
I present Elsie with her new nightlight. She is overjoyed!
"I won't be afraid to go to sleep tonight, Mama!"
Indeed, she is not afraid. Instead, she is so excited that she lies in bed for hours, flicking between green and blue LED, spinning the globe to cast whirling galaxies on the walls, and re-illuminating the globe when it shuts itself off.
*****
Another week has gone by since I bought the nightlight. The excitement has worn down enough for Elsie to sleep beside it peacefully.
Anyway, she has declared herself "not afraid of the dark any more." So it's a moot point.
Meanwhile, Lucia has begun waking up just before 5:00 am. She is grumpy all day. Lucia has a few words, but not nearly enough to tell me why she suddenly hates morning sleep.
"Why won't you sleep?" I ask her.
"Apple! Cat! MEOW!" She replies.
It's crazy how we are at the exact same point. Annie (almost 4) refuses to have the door shut, but John's (15 months) crib is right next to the door, so he pretty much wakes up every time we walk by. I have thought about a night light, but adding another thing to the nighttime routine seems exhausting at this point. But it might be worth it so we can close that dern door.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Lucia is waking up because she sensed your post about how well she's sleeping. They love nothing more than to show us who is boss!