A little over a year ago I sought your input on our gravelly, mulch-ridden front yard. Finally, today, we did something about it! Our landlord came over and spent all day helping us dig trenches, move gravel and put down sod. We aren’t quite finished, but I’m so pleased with the results so far!

(Don’t worry, Brook. There’s still room for guests to park!)

We have a problem. Poppy has been getting up every night at 2am and climbing into bed with us. This all started when she had a nightmare a few weeks ago, and Rockford told her that she could come into our room if she was scared. A few days later, I reiterated that promise. And now, I have a wiggly child next to me every single night.

I asked her two days ago why she was coming into our room every night. “Because I love you,” she said. It’s hard to argue with that, but that really isn’t why we started our open-door policy. I don’t think she’s had any more nightmares. I think she’s just waking up at 2 and deciding she’d like a change of scenery.

Last night I let her lay there for about an hour, and then I tried to pick her sleeping self up to carry her back to her room.

“Mommy!” she said so suddenly and clearly that I wonder whether she was asleep at all. “I don’t want to sleep in my bed. I don’t like to sleep all alone.”

I took her to her room anyway, and I laid down with her for a few minutes. Then I kissed her head, turned on her radio and told her to go to sleep.

When I woke up this morning, there she was next to me.

Now, Rockford was the first one to suggest she could come in to our room at night. But I’m pretty sure this is my fault anyway. I can’t sleep when Rockford’s out of town, so I scoop Poppy up and snuggle with her. Otherwise it’s 3am before I’m asleep. And I don’t function well on limited sleep.
But I think the first step is to stop scooping her up when he’s out of town. Other than that, though, I don’t have a clue as to how to keep her in her own room.

Do you?