Confessions of a parent

I must confess ... I've been tricking my child and I'm sure one day it is going to backfire on me. Actually ... I think this can be classified as reverse psychology. But before I get to that, I need to give you a little background. Grayson is a very active child and he loves to be around other people. He plays hard all day but he is generally pretty easy to get to bed ... unless he is sleeping with other people in the room. Then he thinks it is still play time.

Well, earlier this week after I put him down in his bed, I hear whispering coming from Bryant and Benjamin's room and I realize that Grayson has sneaked in there. But they are being quiet, so I let them go and don't say anything, and before long they are all fast asleep. Here is a picture of Grayson in Bry's bed (it was hard to get a good shot, but they were so cute I had to try).

So the next night, Grayson asks if he can sleep in the boys room again. After last night went so well, I think, why not? But that night does not go so well. They are all playing around and talking loudly and we have to go in several times to ask them to settle down. They do eventually fall asleep, but it takes a while. The next night, we decide to give Grayson another chance but once again it takes a long time and they are loud. SO... before we even get to bedtime the next night, I tell Grayson he's going to have to sleep in his own bed. I get him settled and within 2 minutes he is running down the hall to his brothers' room ... but he doesn't know that I saw him. And since he thinks he's being sneaky he's quiet! They whisper and giggle for a little bit, but they go to sleep and we never have to talk to them.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Now when he asks if he can sleep with his brothers (and he has every night) I tell him "no." Then when he thinks I'm not listening he whispers to his brothers that he's going to sneak over. They start laughing and I pretend I didn't hear. I know he's going to sneak over there, but if he's sneaking, he's quiet, so I don't care! Rehn and I sit in our room and laugh when we see him dash in and hear his little giggle because he thinks he is getting away with something. I'm sure I'm going to regret encouraging him to be sneaky later, but all of the boys are having such a good time being together. He was taking turns between Bryant's and Benjamin's bed, but he seems to prefer Bry's since he is on the bottom bunk. Last night he started with Benjamin, but after Benjamin fell asleep he went down to Bry's and ended up sleeping there. It's nice to have kids that get along so well. The older boys are great at including Grayson and they actually like having him around ... most of the time!