past the bedtime..

2 posts in one day.. wow.. I am on a roll..

Tonight, at 20 minutes to 8, DD needed her shower.. she had watched a cartoon Phineas & Ferb on Disney with DH and then 2 Tom & Jerry cartoons.. just listening to them giggle was worth the delay in the shower.. After her shower (of which the poor thing slipped and fell, fortunately no pain or problems) I spent a long time Hold Rocking her.. this is when I wrap her in a towel and just snuggle her up.. she is the one who called it Hold Rocking and it is something that just the two of us do -- so it is special.. Tonight she asked to hear Baby Mine.. this is the song I always sang her as a newborn and then it just continued as she grew.. it is still the one song she loves me to sing her (must confess, it's not a whole song, just a verse I remember and I don't think it is even a whole verse, just pieces) and just relaxes her and puts her in a calm state of mind.. she misses not being able to sit in my lap and really snuggling close, but with her baby sister growing inside me, there isn't much lap room and muscle tension is another issue (not to mention that she just about 4 feet tall), but tonight, I managed to balance her just right and held her tight in my arms and hold her and sing to her.. the look on her face was priceless.. she looked like the little baby I remember her to be.. sweet and innocent -- not the child I was yelling at 10 minutes prior to get naked and get into the shower.. she loved it and it read all over her face.. I hurt like heck, but tonight, she needed it and it made her smile -- made me smile on the inside, the kind that sits with you and makes you realize that you just put a deposit in your child's memory bank -- the sorta thing that lasts with them forever.. :) Oh, and she informed me that I can not sing Baby Mine to her little sister, it's her song.. we might have agreed that twinkle twinkle would be okay for naps, but not bedtime and You are My Sunshine is acceptable for anytime and might even be a good song for just the new baby & me. SO FUNNY my daughter is..

so then we move on to the hair drying portion of the shower.. she has long thick hair and I dry it for her with the hair dryer.. tonight it took forever, she was wiggling and giggling, but I didn't stress about it, just kept trying to do what I needed to.. and she was singing songs from graduation.. I think I got to hear about 5 while I did her hair.. so cute.. took longer than it should, but again, worth it.. with all the craziness that has been happening around here, I believed she just needed to be listened to tonight.. we did her medicines and brushed her teeth and moved on to bed.. it was not 8:20, she is supposed to be in bed almost asleep by now..

Kisses to daddy on the couch and then we go to her room, where she asks for a book, normally, nope, too late -- but tonight, I caved and she read a story to me.. she loves to prove how much she can read, her sight word vocabulary is big and growing.. she loves to read and I am thrilled.. then she conned me into one more story.. I picked a short one and it worked out.. Now is it 8:35.. light off and I sit for a few minutes.. but first we have to spend 3 minutes picking out who she is going to sleep with.. Dolly is a given, but then she gets me to agree to 2 more dolls.. then she goes into this elaborate story that she has been cooking up with her dolls and it is not even a story, but a musical.. so I being sung to and told a story to and like I said, she just needed to be listened to.. my stomach muscles are killing me at this point since I am contracting like crazy and really need to get into a more supportive chair, but I sat there for a full 10 minutes while she told me her story and songs..

so here I am at 9pm, one full hour past her bedtime and I know that there will be a few consequences in the morning -- my daughter is a beast if she doesn't get enough sleep -- but you know what.. I would not change anything that I did.. a late bedtime is the perfect price to pay for catching up on the mommy things I have been either too sick, tired, sore or otherwise uncomfortable to do as well as I should have.. and I feel good -- hopefully as good as she does..
Taking a few extra minutes to listen to her, giggle with her will be worth it ....

If I knew better, I would do everything exactly the way I did it to tonight..
:) Monique