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January 02, 2006

Asleep in His Bed

When we moved into our current home, the Cat happily painted what would become his room a pale shade of green. He had selected the color and was proud that he could decorate his room however he chose.

In the last year and a half, a framed cartoon of a cat, a construction paper cat, and some stickers have made their way on to his wall. Various blankets and pillows have adorned his bed and the little green chair in the corner which used to be my grandmother’s.

But his pride in his room waned.

About two months ago, the Cat stopped sleeping in his room. Instead, he preferred to sleep in the guest room; or, his favorite, the downstairs couch. His routine of having a Thomas the Tank Engine story read to him by his daddy while they both lounged in the green room was replaced by him falling asleep watching a video in the family room.

I have felt awkward about this change, but I knew he was having difficulty sleeping, so figured that it would be best to let him select where he was the most comfortable. In the autumn, the wind would cause the side yard gate to bang and the trees to whistle. The Cat’s green room is in prime location for those scary sounds. I reluctantly agreed to let him switch to the guest room.

He still wasn’t sleeping well. Husband and I manipulated lights in the hopes of reaching a “dark enough to sleep, but light enough for the Cat not to be frightened” balance.

Later, as he started falling asleep before his bedtime on the couch, Husband and I started leaving him there instead of awakening him to go upstairs. The result was a better-rested boy. I still worried that we were setting some dangerous precedence. But I reasoned that he wasn’t going to become a teenager and still be sleeping on the couch.

In the last couple weeks, he started not sleeping well on the couch, either. He would go upstairs and spend a little bit of time in my and Husband’s bed, then the guest room bed, and then the guest room floor. He didn’t have a place to fall asleep and stay asleep.

It was amusing for a short period of time to hear the Cat refer to his bedroom as his “green living room” and the guest room as his “sleeping room.” Along with his bathroom, he had an entire suite going on there.

However, his request to sleep in the guest room some months before had spiraled into a crazy game of musical beds that frequently ended up on the floor. The result was not a better-rested boy, but instead a crank-bot who frequently fell asleep mid-day after being sent to his room for one impulsive and mischievous thing or another.

Husband and I saw the Cat working hard at being “good,” and then the defeat when he lost the battle and hit his brother, or screamed at us, or cried when he was misunderstood. At times, his behavior was like a two year old. And at times, he was exceptionally polite and well-mannered. When he would finally commit a particularly tearful crime, he would end up in “his” room (which was now the guest room,) asleep.

Clearly, sleep is a big issue in the Cat’s behavior.

Today, we decided to get the Cat a mattress pad to improve the comfiness-factor of his bed. (Husband and I agreed that his twin mattress wasn’t comfortable at all, even though we bought it brand new just a couple years ago.) We talked about it to him, asking if this would help him stay in his green room. He agreed, but when I told him I was leaving for the store, he explained he was playing with trains and didn’t want to accompany me.

Fifteen minutes later, my cell phone rung. The Cat passionately and articulately explained that he really wanted to try out various mattress pads (“blankets” and “beds”) to find one for his green room.

I went home, and picked up the excited Cat. “We are going to the bed store?” he asked, and agreed to put on his raincoat (pretty much a first!) so that he could go out in the hard rain.

At the store, he diligently went through three different pads to select the one he felt was the softest. He also found a very soft blanket (so nice that I am tempted to get one for myself.)

He bubbled over as he explained how his bed in his green room would only be for him. He said he would sleep only in his room now. “I will not sleep in the guest room! Mommy and Daddy are not allowed to sleep my bed!” (Uh, okay… you showed us!)

When we got home, he was eager to set up the new bedding. After he tried it out, he recovered his Thomas the Tank engine book from another room and placed it on the nightstand, unprompted. The routine will resume tonight, I imagine.

He also requested that we set up a lighted train that is supposed to be a Christmas decoration. He explained that the train would provide enough light so that he wouldn’t need the bright overhead.

If the Cat sleeps well in a room with a Christmas decoration providing the light, then who am I to complain? (Actually, the first night we had Christmas lights around the window of his green room, he slept there.)

I imagine tonight he will be so excited about the new bedding and the multicolored train lights that falling asleep may be difficult, but I hope the comfort will keep him asleep.

My fingers are crossed.

Posted by karianna at January 2, 2006 07:19 PM

Comments

Posted by: Julie at January 4, 2006 06:10 PM

Posted by: Kari at January 4, 2006 06:31 PM

Posted by: jenB at January 5, 2006 11:33 PM

Posted by: jenB at January 5, 2006 11:33 PM