The Earlier Riser

The signs are there and impossible to ignore. It’s a creak in the floorboards, squeak of the bed frame, but mostly, the sound of feet padding from one room to the other. The sounds instantly awaken me, but I still do nothing to change it. I listen in the dark as my six-year-old wakes up in their bed and transfers themselves to mine. Then, I lift the covers back so my kid can crawl under them and pass out again.

Since my kid was born, we’ve lived in apartments. My kid didn’t have a room save for the toys. And when we did have a room with a bed for the kiddo, we still all slept together since our two bedrooms weren’t on the same floor. I feared my kid waking up alone in the middle of the night and screaming with fear. I knew it would happen and that I would spend most of my nights rushing to Kiddo with my heart in my throat. So for the sake of our sanity, the kid has slept with us.

So what changed? We bought a house with bedrooms all on the same floor. Now, my kid has a room and bed. And every night, Kiddo goes to sleep in their bed and sometimes wakes up in ours in the morning.

I know most of you reading this now are either thinking, “that’s fine! Co-sleeping is best,” or “oh no, that’s so unhealthy! Your child should sleep by themself!” But I’m not here to fight on one or the other. This is about sleep resolutions.

If letting my kid sleep in the bed with us fixes the problem, then what is there to resolute to change?

Now, most of you are thinking, “lol, I know where this is going”. To those not in the know, kids are like octopuses when sleeping starting from when babies can roll over. You’ll wonder how many arms and legs they have as they snuggle you one minute and punch you in the face the next. My kid likes to turn ninety degrees in their sleep, so I get kicked in the head too—nothing like a heel to your throat to disrupt your sleep cycle. It’s like sleeping with an octopus that knows karate!

I want to get mad, but it’s not on purpose. My kid isn’t malicious; Kiddo just doesn’t sleep well with others! So my resolution this new year isn’t to lose weight or write more (although I should do both, to be honest). It’s not to meditate more or switch from night owl to early riser.

It’s to teach my kid to fall back asleep on their own in their bed!

This isn’t to say that Kiddo never does it. There has been the occasional morning where I woke up, and the kid isn't in bed with me. It’s so rare that I tend to get up in a panic until I find Kiddo in their bed, asleep. The fact that the kid can do it (even if few and far between) proves that they know how. I have to convince Ninja-Octopus that this is better, so they do it all the time!

Imagine that conversation: “You know when you wake up at night, and you’re scared and all alone? Well, I need you to ignore that and close your eyes again!”

In the end, I suppose it’s not my New Year’s resolution as much as it is my kid’s. When my bed is ninja-octopus-free, I sleep pretty well. And whether they believe it or not, Ninja-Octopus sleeps better alone than on top of us. I’ll probably have to lose some sleep to get it, waking up and checking on the kid and calming Octo-Ninja down from time to time. Like when they were a baby, I had to nurse or rock back to sleep. It’ll be better for both of us and lead to healthier sleep habits.

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