The Little Man was sound asleep when I got home from running my first discussion at the the Arlington Writers Group last night. Normally, I am the one who reads to him and then puts him to bed. He has gotten much better at this. Generally speaking, he no longer cries when I put him in his crib. I tend to linger a little longer, hugging him while he stands there, holding his monkey and his bottle, and telling him that I’ll check on him before I go to bed.

So last night, as I have been doing every night for a few weeks now, I crept quietly into his room, and peeked in on him.  The Little Man lay sleeping, face down on his crib, one arm around his monkey, and half-laying on his empty bottle. I lingered long enough to hear his breathing and then I went off to bed myself.

It’s funny, but when I tell him that I’ll check on him “later”, I feel obligated to do it, even though I know he’ll be sound asleep and won’t know that I’m in there checking on him. I think it reminds me of when I was a little boy. My Dad would tuck me in and before he left my room each night, I’d say to him, “Come in a lot of times.” Of course, I would fall instantly asleep, and I have no idea if he actually came in “a lot of times” or not. But I felt good just making the request.

Incidentally, the Little Man slept for 12 straight hours last night and woke up with morning with a big smile on his face. That’s some way to start off the day!