Sleeping Babes

Although you can't tell thanks to the flash, it's actually dark in here. This was taken of Galen a few weeks ago, his first night in his own bed. I almost didn't think to take a picture until Brad reminded me. Oh yeah, this is a landmark! Meanwhile, we can't stand it. We have all slept in the family bed since, well, conception, and we miss him! Plus, he still wakes up during the night and could far too easily fall out of bed or worse, down the stairs. So that leaves us on the leaky air mattress on his floor, which we pick up and move out of the way during the day, futon-style. The past couple of nights he has climbed quietly out of his bed and onto the mattress with us, sometimes without me even knowing. And that's just fine with me.

There are so many things about prevailing custom that are downright insane, not to mention completely contradictory, and numerous expectations of our children top the list. We want our kids to form secure attachments (specifically to people-not-things), to be able to have healthy relationships, to be connected to others, to be kind. Yet we are expected to thrust them out on their own as babies when their very survival depends on our attentive presence. "Don't let them sleep with you, you'll never get them out of your bed," or "You'll spoil them!" (whatever that means!) are common comments. Then later the same parents complain, "They never listen to me!" "They don't care what I think!" Does it not stand to reason that if you don't care about them, they are under no obligation to care about you? Am I the only one paying attention here??

Thankfully, I am not. The tides are indeed shifting. Folks are less and less afraid of loving their children, a great and wonderful development. Shopping in Target recently I noticed they now carry cosleepers and slings in the baby section. In Target! Now that is mainstream! So you know it's permeating the culture at large. The peaceful and loving will prevail, bwa-ha-ha-ha!