Randy came home on Saturday night after working in New Mexico for a couple of weeks. Home alone with two kids wasn't too bad, but I did have my moments. One night after a particularly long day, I put the kids to bed early-- 6:30; lights out; no crying; see ya, bye!
A half hour later I realized I forgot to give Maren her meds. Crap! I knew she was still awake, but when I walked in with the syringe, I saw that she was close to sweet, sweet sleep. She sat up and I gave her the enalapril, then patted her on the head and walked out. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed. Ugh.
After a couple of minutes I went back in and went through the whole bedtime routine a second time, hoping she'd go to sleep without issues. No go. I went to put her in the crib and we had screaming all over again. Ugh.
I grabbed Maren from her crib, sat down on Henry's bed (he was lying down but still very much awake)and began to sing to her. I didn't even get through the first verse of "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," when I stopped and said out loud, "I don't want to do this."
Henry popped up and in all seriousness said, "Mom, I'll put her to bed."
"Henry, you can't put her to bed," I replied.
"Yes I can. I'll just sing I Am a Child of God until she stops crying."
I paused for a minute-- thinking about how sad it was that I was actually contemplating letting my 6-year-old put my 2-year-old to bed because I was done being a mom for the day. I decided it wasn't sad enough to not take Henry up on his offer and asked, "Really?"
Henry shrugged his shoulders and casually said, "Yeah."
I got up, put screaming Maren into her crib and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me. Five seconds later, through the baby monitor, I heard Maren's screams with Henry's singing in the background. It only took a minute before Henry took center stage and the only thing I could hear besides his version of "I Am a Child of God" was Maren's binky-sucking. The singing continued for another minute, and then it was silent.
Thanks Henry, I owe you one. Seriously, I love that kid.
My New Favorite - Sweet Mini Peppers
11 years ago
4 comments:
Girl you have got some talent in writing. I am laughing and going "aw how sweet!" all at the same time. Love it.
That is so sweet! What a good brother.
Man, that boy is a keeper. Is he out for hire? Because I totally need an I Am a Child of God singing bedtime administrator...
That is the sweetest story ever. I feel you- being a single parent (even for a few months) is a seriously tough gig. I commend you, Sarah. Really.
I wanted to tell you that I also collect coupons. I have a little coupon book stuffed to the brim with coupons for glad bags and hamburger helper. I am a little obsessed with clipping coupons, yet I never seem to use them!
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