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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Sleeping Babes

It is pertinent that, as a parent, I peek in on the kids while they're sleeping. 

You might assume that's for practical purposes: To check on them and make sure they're breathing or to make sure they haven't entangled themselves in bedding or haven't caught on fire (parenthetical aside: why do all these PJs have that declaration on the inside that says, "Wear snug fitting.  Not flame resistant."?!  Do many kids spontaneously burst into flames while sleeping?  This has long been a plaguing parenting question of mine).

Or, you might assume it's for sentimental reasons, like to give them a gentle mom-kiss goodnight while they slumber silently.

And those are good assumptions, and true to a point, but my principle reason for the nightly peek-in, is to remind myself of how cute they are and how much I love them. 

Because when they're awake, and one is standing on top of the kitchen counter trying to reach forbidden candy and the other is biting the dog, it's kinda hard to remember why I steered life down this road of madness.

But, when I peek-in, I suddenly have sleeping-child-induced-amnesia: What entire roll of toilet paper that got unspooled and flushed this morning thus causing the toilet to overflow and turn the master bathroom into Lake Superior?  Pfffftttt, no biggie!  Look at those itty-bitty toes! 

All sleeping children melt a heart: I bet even terrorists sigh and say, "Awwww!  Wook at the cutie-wootie!" at the sight of such sleeping babes.  It is an evolutionary advantage I'm sure.  If we didn't all do the peek-in and see sights such as this at nap time or at the end of the day --


-- there'd probably be a lot more kids left to be raised by wolves.

8 comments:

runner26 said...

Glad this is normal parenting behavior and thinking. Mine is currently either making a huge mess or trying to kill herself. Sometimes attempting both at the same time. But I do peek every night and have those same feelings about her cuteness.

Unknown said...

I am so with you on this one. I like to peek in to remind myself that they really are special little people because sometimes during the day it's pretty easy to forget! Ha ha.

Unknown said...

Sleeping babies are the best!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

Busted! I also let my little guy run around in his little shorty underwear when he is being extra cranky so that he looks extra cute. It helps me remain a little more calm.

Erin said...

Sleeping babies/kids are the best. It does melt away all the other reasons we want to disown them.

Tiffany said...

I totally agree! I love to check on the girls before bed just to see how beautiful and innocent they are while sleeping.

BrianFlash said...

I thought the reasons parents had babies were:

1) Slave labor, and
2) Insurance that someone is around to take care of you when you are old.

Nothing else really makes sense to me...you could get your cuteness fix by looking at a sleeping dog or a stuffed animal!

Erika . . . with a K said...

Sleeping babies are the best... especailly after a long day when you just want to wring their neck. At that moment you realize how much it is all worth it!