Parenting 101

True story here - I was a parenting expert before I had my first child.  I had hours upon hours of babysitting under my belt and lots of observation (*cough* judgement) of other people parenting so I knew exactly how I was going to do it and what I ABSOLUTELY would not do.  About 20 seconds after Annie was born I realized I was an idiot. Since that moment I've been muddling through and finding my way as I go along like a person who has been blindfolded and swiftly spun around numerous times before trying to hit the pinata.  That being said you can imagine how precise the parenting technique is around our house.  Case and point: bedtime.

Bedtime routine is a big deal in most households I believe. Our house is no different beyond the fact that the routine changes frequently enough that it is really erroneous to even claim it's a routine.  Anyway, there are some regular features about each night when the little ones go to bed.

To my knowledge most kids have a blanket, stuffed animal, pillow, or some other trinket they have to have when they go to bed.  Annie is no different by the simple fact that she does have a favorite blanket she uses every night (and drags around with her wherever she chooses to lay down and watch TV) but that's where the similarities (or normality) ends.  In addition to the blanket the majority of the time she likes to have an arm to help her get to sleep.  Yes, a human arm is her lovey of choice.

As a baby she always patted on mine or Philip's arm while we held her as she went to sleep.  Now 4 1/2 years later most nights she says, "Can I hold your arm?" (This is a huge improvement from the "Gimme you arm" little bitty drowsy Annie use to say.)

While not always (or ever) convenient - neither parent wants to be a curmudgeon about the whole thing so most nights one or the other of us is tethered to her for a few minutes until she drifts off.

This is another one of those little things that will eventually (and actually already is) fade away with age but is worth remembering because while it probably goes against every parenting rule out there (and is one of those things I was not going to do) it is a moment of peaceful sweetness with our little girl.