The Great Debate

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This...is what my bed looks like most nights...two beautiful children snuggled up between mommy and daddy, with arms, legs, heads, and toes sprawled out everywhere. The jury is still out on co-sleeping. Some say that it's great bonding and helps your children to feel safe and secure, while others say that they miss out on a part of development and never learn how to self-soothe. Yes, this is the Great Debate. I am not going to lie. Some nights I am miserable. LilliAnn nurses all night long because I'm a warm pacifier lying right next to her, while I'm on the very edge of the bed with an ache in my back and bags under my eyes. Then other nights, I can't imagine what it's going to be like without his little head in the crook of my arm or without her little toes touching my back. Last week, LilliAnn was teething and not sleeping well at all. In the midst of my sleep deprivation I was determined that everyone was going to fall asleep in their own beds...because that 's what parents are supposed to do, right? Make their children sleep in their own beds? Reid and I laid down in his bed that night and the entire time he kept asking me if we could go to sleep in mommy's bed. When I finally said yes, he leaned over really close to my face and said, "mama, you're my tavorite (favorite)." After two hours of reading books, singing, and watching movies in his bed without him even starting to act sleepy, we crawled into my bed together and he was out like a light after holding our hands and saying his prayers..."good night mommy, good night daddy, good night Donkey Kong." ?!?! The next night, as we all snuggled in our bed together, my heart was happy. I watched the kids love on each other and play hide and seek under the covers and I knew that this night time ritual was "us". Reid talked for an hour about what grasshoppers eat, his frog/baseball/farm birthday party that is "in April," and discussed pirates and dinosaurs with us. Some nights Jeb and I don't get much sleep, but you know what? I wouldn't trade the cuddle time in our bed for anything in this world. These are the moments that I will always remember. It may not be what is "best" by the books, but it sure is what's "best" for our family!