Revisiting the nest...

September 12, 2005 | Category: Mother to the First Power

We made the decision recently to cut back the hours of Elia, our longtime babysitter.

CD changed his work schedule to 7AM-3PM, which means that I am now doing both drop-off (8:20AM) and pick-up (11:30AM) at Bear's Montessori (as well as picking up Elia on the way home).

That will reduce Elia's daily appearance from 6+ hours to 4 hours a day. Writing it down makes it seem like a lot of work for a little payback, but in addition to the monetary savings (about $350 a month) there is the flexibility for Bear's schedule (Elia doesn't drive, which means those afternoon playdates with his classmates were rarely something I could agree to) as well as the overall goal of lessening Bear's dependance on "MyElia", as he calls her.

Between her other job at her brother's restaurant and her new boyfriend, Elia readily agreed to the reduction of hours and offered to stay flexible if we needed it. So this morning began the new schedule...

At 6:30AM, CD carried Bear from his bed into our bed and set the alarm for 7:30AM. He kissed us both and headed out the door.

For the next hour, I found myself snuggled, climbed on, patted, and tickled as Bear enjoyed being in the "big bed" in the morning. (So much for sleep). At one point, I got up and visited the bathroom. As I stepped back into my bedroom, I saw that Bear had confiscated all the pillows, except one left for me. He'd built a fort for himself, his blue eyes peeking above the top.

I collapsed in laughter.

It has been a while since the Bear built a nest....

The Bear Makes a Nest (08/14/04)

Bear crawled into bed with me pretty early this morning. I tried to convince him he was still tired, but he wasn't having it. He squirmed and poked and whispered.

Resigned, I got up and went into to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and so on. When I got back, Bear had made a "nest" out of almost every pillow on our bed. And we have a lot of pillows. A veritable motherlode of pillows. And at the center of them all, he sat. Like a coppery Big Bird, in a circle of white pillows stacked 2 feet high.

Except one.

He cooed happily, and snuggled. He whispered a secret to me "I made a nice nest". Then he announced loudly "I LOVE my nest".

He pointed to the ONE pillow remaining at the head of the bed and told me: “That’s for you, Mommy. I saved it for you."

I rested in my assigned spot, head on my pillow. I pulled the sheet over me and tried to go back to the twilight resting place a parent can go to with a chattering preschooler in a big pillow nest 2 feet from her tummy.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him peering at me.

Then at my pillow.

Intently at my pillow.

He asked, "Do you like your pillow?"

I said I did.

Bear looked at the pillow he'd left for me. It was a king-size one, in a soft pillowcase.

He asked again, "You like your pillow?"

I burrowed into it closer. Now, anyone could see that this pillow was weighing on him pretty powerful. Here he had this big, puffy nest. But it was clearly one pillow short of being done. Because there was a pillow, right under my head. Not in the nest. NOT.

...On the other hand, he'd made the sacrifice. That was to be the special pillow. For mommy.

Oh, the drama of it all!

You could see him worrying the situation. His blue eyes furrowed in concentration. He mouth puckered in thought. I had to make another quick trip to the bathroom, and when I got back our Hero had solved the problem.

In the nest? ALL the fluffy pillows from our bed. Where my head went? A little gold pillow off the couch.

"Uh, Bear?" I demanded, trying to keep a straight face. "Where's my pillow?"

"Oh, I got you a NEW pillow," he answered from deep inside Pillowdom. "It's special, just for you. It's your favorite color."

"No, it's not. Blue is my favorite color. And you have me special pillow in your nest. Can I have it back please?"

His head pops up, like a tentative gopher. "You see... " he tells me. "You need to try the little pillow. Mommy, the little pillow is special," he informs me. "I got it just for you!"

So I rested my head on the flimsy little pillow, recognizing that I had just been hoisted with the very same argument I used to get him to try green beans. I squirmed and tried to get comfortable.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, it happened. The little eyes peered out of the nest. And came to focus on the little pillow. You could see what he was thinking....

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