Sleep

I forget how important sleep is until I don't have it! I chose to have a girls nite out this week and paid the price the next morning. Not a hangover- just staying out until 1:30am. We went to a concert that was 2 hours away and that's why I was out so late. Driving home by myself reminded me of the nights when my babies were small and they needed to nurse every few hours. How can I look back and miss that?! They were sweet nights but I am so glad that each one of my children are good sleepers. We always went with the philosophy that learning to fall asleep on their own was a much needed life skill that would benefit our whole family. We decided to put them down as they were getting sleepy and let them do the rest. There was crying at times but never for long. I could never let them cry too long without trying a rock. But for the most part, our kids knew that getting in their beds meant they had to sleep. Each one had a different comfort item that they associated with sleep. For our baby girl it is a piggy. She knows that piggy needs a nap too. She smiles as I cover them both up because we have made it a fun thing since she was small. Don't get me wrong there are days when naps just don't happen but at 8:00pm each night our kids are going to bed without much of a fuss. I am so glad we did this from the beginning because Mom and Dad can have some free time before bed each night. Some things pay off really big when you start them from the very beginning.