Thursday, July 12, 2007

The other night I found myself wide awake, unable to go back to sleep. It was too dark to see the clock on the wall, the dim light of the small lamp too far from it, but it felt like the quiet of 2 or 3 am. I sat up and studied the three sleeping figures on our makeshift bed on the floor. It was cold in the room. I smiled slightly at the sight of my husband hunched in his small space at the corner next to Joshua, completely covered by his Marvin the Martian wool blanket. He insists on sleeping with us on the floor in spite of the big empty bed in the middle of the room.

Our family bed on the floor is like a nest, made of two long foldable mattresses laid side by side, flanked by the foot of the bed and the couch and completely surrounded by pillows.

Joshua moves a bit to where I usually lie, feet searching for me. I am often awakened at the sensation of his cold toes burrowing under my tummy, which means he has kicked off his blanket yet again. They hate having their feet covered -- no footsie pajamas for them.

He moves again, and hugs my legs. I marvel at his size now, tall for a 5 year old and remember when I could hold him in the crook of one arm and hardly feel the weight. His cheeks are like porcelain, cool and smooth as I nuzzle them. He doesn't wake up despite my attentions.

I look at Faith sprawled in complete abandon, arms and legs every which way, hair tangled on the pillow, mouth slightly open. Her toes are tiny and pink. Her breath still smells like a baby's, milk combined with her unique scent.

I could stay up watching them for hours, then briefly thought of getting up and finishing my book. Then a creaking noise spooks me. So I squeezed myself between the kids, burrowed under my blanket, turned my face into Faith's sleeping one and closed my eyes.

12 comments:

kj said...

mench, this is a fine piece of writing. you've captured the time, place and mood perfectly.

nothing like love and sleep blanketed together on the floor..

:)

Pacha said...

Usually life with the kids is so manic I can hardly taste it. But nighttime when everyone is asleep and I'm the only one awake I drink it all in.

You've described a moment that is so magical and beautiful! Safe and sound cocooned in love on your makeshift bed! Lovely!

Marie said...

I agree, all described beautifully.

Keshi said...

so much of LOVE in this post! Very nice one Menchie.


Keshi.

houseband00 said...

Two words, Menchie: Comfort Zone!

=)

Menchie said...

Thanks you guys. :D

You all have a good weekend!

Ces Adorio said...

The Family Bed - what a great concept. We had one too. I relished every second in it. Wonderful story Menchie.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I can relate to this. We don't have a tv on our bedroom so we often get to sleep, me and the children on the sala, watching tv until we would be sleepy. So we have matresses on our sala floor. We just got grown accustomed to it over the years.

Menchie said...

Ces,
I wonder how long we're going to have it.

Major Tom,
Hey! Thanks for dropping by!
We have a tv in the bedroom but sleeping on the floor started because my daughter fell from the bed. It scared me so much that we decided to sleep on the floor ever since.

Anonymous said...

that's really beautiful....
I really needed something like that today, a real boost to my humanity circuits:)

Thank you so much for sharing :)

Aidan

Anonymous said...

I am in favor of this 'natural' way of sleeping together. For quite some time in Flanders this was 'not done', even babies were put away in a separate room : it doesn't cease to amaze me how stupid people can act, and how influenced most people are by this, willing or not. There was also a time that bottle milk was "better" (!! ???) than breastfeeding. Thank god that after some time, they understood that breastfeeding is natural and complete, so now they are still busy stimulating mothers to breastfeed. And you weren't allowed to comfort your baby every time it cried, because that meant spoiling, etc ... Good that an opposite movement grew : promoting the kangooroo-bags for carrying your baby close to you, etc.
I read your previous post too about habits and beliefs, every culture has its own. Good that we can identify some.

Menchie said...

Aidan,
thanks, glad you liked it.

Hildegarde,
It's nice to wake up with the kids. But it's also nice sometimes to have a break from them from time to time. :D