2 A.M. Obstacle Course
“Mom!” I heard the yell from Kiera’s room even though I was sound asleep.
“Mom!” She yelled again.
“Hon. Kiera is yelling for you.” Aaron mumbled as he reached over to pat me.
“I’m coming, baby.” I stated loudly. There was no point in being quiet at this point.
I grabbed my phone and flipped on the flashlight, checking beside the bed for the best foot placement. You see we have a nightly routine… No, I’m not referring to Kiera, and us; although, we do have a bedtime routine with her.
The nightly routine I am referring to is the one I have with Reis, our Great Dane. Every night when I go to bed, Reis follows me to the bedroom. His bed is directly between my side of the bed and the wall.
We have it set up that way for several reasons. First, when he came to live with us, he bonded with me and would not let me out of his sight… including at night. Second, there is not really a good place in the bedroom for a 120-pound Great Dane to lie in the floor and not be in the way. Hence the reason he sleeps on my side of the bed.
The trick to me getting up in the middle of the night is to either turn on the flashlight and find the best place to put my feet on the floor or to launch myself off the end of the bed. I don’t launch so well at 2 a.m. so flashlight it is.
I found the open spots on the floor beside the bed to step on and climbed out of bed. Double-checking that Sloane, our pitch black Shar-pei/Lab cross, was not on the floor at the end of the bed, I made my way to Kiera’s room.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked patting her on the back.
There was a mumble and then a sigh as she settled back to sleep. I stood beside her bed for a moment to make sure that she was indeed asleep. You know how it works. If you don’t wait a minute, then 9 times out of 10, you climb back in bed, close your eyes and then your child bellows for you again.
If you stand beside the bed for a few minutes, this lessens the chance of being bellowed at after you have climbed back in your warm bed… it changes the odds to more like 6 out of 10 times. I’ll take those odds.
After waiting the appropriate time beside her bed, I turned and headed back to my room, only to be met by our boxer, Ziggy. He decided that if I’m up, it must be time for him to go out and potty. Of course, if he goes, the other two have to go outside as well. It’s a vicious cycle.
Finally, after everyone had done their business outside, I checked on Kiera one more time and I made my way back to bed.
Several nights ago, I was awakened by the “Mom!” bellow. I went through the above steps and hustled to Kiera’s room. Sitting down on the side of the bed, I reached over and tugged Kiera’s blankets up on her shoulders.
“What is it, baby?” I asked, gently patting her.
With her eyes still closed, she turned over on her stomach and complained, “I can’t hold my food properly.”
Quirking an eyebrow up at her response, I continued to pat her.
She continued on with her explanation. “If I can’t hold my food properly, I can’t sleep properly.”
At 2:30 in the morning, the only response I could come back with was, “Huh.”
Thankfully, that seemed to appease her as she settled in under her blankets and drifted back to sleep… not that she was ever really awake.
I stumbled back to our bedroom, heading for my side of the bed. As I glanced to the bed, Ziggy’s head popped up. I looked him straight in the eyes and said, “Don’t even think about it.”
He sighed and laid his head back down.
I climbed back in bed, happy with my one moment of victory and thankful that Kiera had managed to figure out how to hold her food properly so we could all go back to sleep.
Rowonna McNeely works as the Communications Manager for the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband, Aaron are regular volunteers in the community, and have their hands full with their daughter, Kiera, along with three dogs and one cat.
Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.