Note To Self: Get More Nightlights!

I could go my whole life without hearing a child screaming out of sheer terror, especially waking up to it in the middle of the night. I am not going to keep you in suspense, everything was and is okay.

We are watching a friend’s dog – a sweet old Golden Retriever. I picked “Maggie” up after Morgan fell asleep at 6:30 following a full day. Morgan is not quite my animal lover, it takes her awhile to warm up to a dog (especially little ones), and Morgan has not woke up and came into our room in the middle of the night in a long time. So......

You can imagine how she felt walking through a dark house at 4:00am thinking she was being chased by a wolf (that is what she said this morning)! At 4:00am, all I know is that Morgan was a few feet from my side of the bed and screamed a real terrorized shrill scary scream. In the split second it took me to realize what was going on, scoop her up and pull her into our bed, I was also screaming. Curtis had no idea what was going on, but also woke up in a panic. It took about an hour for the three of us to calm down and fall back to sleep. I have never felt needed so much, as Morgan clung on to me for the next three hours.


I think Maggie was just sleeping at the foot of our bed and got up happily when Morgan came into the room (I don’t think she followed her down the hall). In the morning - Morgan and Maggie were best buds! Now, that was screaming out of terror in the middle of the night, and we were the good parents. But what about crying when you are making your child do what you think is best for them, and feeling like the worst parent? The girls were in Vacation Bible School (VBS) all week (2.5 hours per day), and after the first day Morgan did not want me to leave her. I know she calmed down and I know she had a good time and I know she had her sister and friends there, but she did not want me to leave her and boy did she cry. One day I stayed with her for an hour and a half, then had to run a couple of errands before getting her an hour later. When I left she was pretty much freaking out crying. What do you do? What is the right thing? What would the perfect parent do? Do you make your child follow through with this commitment, and make her temporarily unhappy? Are you creating some life long fear in your child by doing this? Or do you concede to the behavior, make them happy, make it easier for the parent, and teach them how to get their way? I knew she was in good hands, would have fun, and would only be there for another hour. When I walked out, I called Curtis crying with the same questions. After the night of the “Wolf” incident, she did not want to go, and I didn’t push it.

We had a busy week though:
Monday: Hershey got hurt and we had Gabby all day.
Tuesday: VBS and we went to a friend’s pool.
Wednesday: VBS and we had Raegan and Reese over.
Thursday: VBS, we went to another friends pool, and Schuyler had a sleepover.
Friday: VBS, Cali and Lili came over, the girls and I went to a Spa birthday party while the boys went to a friends pool.

Meanwhile, Curtis is working really hard and took Graydon during his naps (while working from home), so the girls and I could do these fun things. Thank you Saint Curtis! He also was recognized at work this week for going above and beyond! Good job honey!