At Least Im Here

The morning began at 3:30am with the arrival of a little girl shaped silhouette in the doorway of our bedroom. Quite why it woke me up is a mystery. I think perhaps once you have small children, you never really sleep as deeply as you did before “ there’s always a part of you that’s listening “ ready to react. My father in law has a good term for the sleep we experience as children “ “the sleep of the just”. The same little girl started quietly crying half an hour later, and I found myself sitting on the edge of her bed, having a whispered conversation “Want get in your bed” “No “ you have to sleep in your bed” “Why?” “Because we all need to sleep “ let me fluff your pillow up, and tuck you in” (it’s amazing what magical properties fluffing a pillow up has with a six year old girl). She tried the pillow, and then pulled the nuclear option “My ear hurts” Anybody who’s ever had earache knows how miserable that is. Anybody with small children also knows how often they get earache. Two minutes later I was back in the bedroom with medicine. It only occurred to me after that I could have given her anything and told her it was medicine. Even the claim of “my ear hurts” may have been a learned attention getter. Whatever “ I gave her the medicine, and she hit the pillow like a zombie. Funny how medicine does that. So here I am chugging through stuff at work, half asleep, but soldiering on. Just like everybody else.