Every Breath You Take...

Each night when Vivie goes to bed, she walks all around her bedroom and lays down her "people" toys as if they too are going to sleep. The first time I saw her do this, I thought, "Oh that sweet girl is tucking all of her dolls and figurines in for the night." So I sat ever so patiently on her bed watching her make the rounds and after she crawled under her covers, I leaned over her and told her how precious I thought that was for her to tuck in all of her "people." Her eyes widened as she very soberly whispered in my ear, "I wasn't tucking them in bed. They don't sleep. I lay them down so they won't stare at me while I sleep."  Before I could even respond, she jumped up out of her bed, ran over to the shelf where one little friend remained standing, and laid it down on its back. Looking at me, she said, "Whew! I almost forgot one!"

Why, pray tell, are kids so creepy? I know it all comes back to an active imagination...at least for most. Of course, I reassured Vivie that her toys weren't watching her. I didn't bother asking her why she would even want to play with anything that she thought was watching her while she sleeps. I also didn't school her on the proper bedtime closet light and closet door situation. I don't want to scare the child, but she insists on leaving on her closet light and keeping the closet door open all night. This, I'm afraid, is a rookie mistake. Whatever it is that lives in the closet doesn't need a light shining on it making it all the easier for it to escape, and everyone knows it can't open a closed door, but it will however, take full advantage of an open door. I also haven't told her of the importance of keeping her feet covered at all times during the night lest The Under The Bed Trolls should come out and scrape the bottoms of her feet with their spoons. Clearly, I have some residual issues from my early exposure to scary movies.

The other day, Vivie brought home her self-portrait that she made in her pre-k class. She was so proud of it that she insisted I allow her to hang it on her bedroom wall. I asked, "Are you sure you don't want to hang it on the refrigerator door so everybody will see it?" She insisted that her masterpiece hang on her bedroom wall. She picked a prominent spot on the wall just left of the head of her bed. She smiled as she taped her picture onto the wall and then she stepped back and admired her work. I have to tell you that hanging artwork on my children's bedroom walls stretches me as a mom. Their rooms typically are somewhat messy and I have just preferred to keep the clutter at a minimum. Before you start bashing me as an unfit mother who doesn't know how to encourage self-expression and creativity in her children, I do keep some of their art and I display some from time to time on the refrigerator. Also, in my defense, I recognized how important this was to Vivie and I let her tape that picture to the wall and made my peace with it.

At bedtime that night, Vivie stuck to her normal routine of laying down all of her "people." She crawled into bed and as I leaned over her to pray, she told me to take down her picture and hang it on the wall inside of her closet. I took it down but I told her that between the bookshelf and all of her clothes, there wasn't a great spot on the wall in her closet so I hung it on the inside part of her closet door. She then started shouting, "Not on the door! Not on the door! Stick it on the wall! On the wall, Mommy!" Funny thing is, I knew she was worried that picture would either close the closet door or open it up wider at some point during the night. Again, I stopped myself from asking her why she would want something that she thinks is up and about in her room while she is sleeping.

Originally, I thought Vivie's little creation was just so precious but the girl has ruined it for me. She has turned it into Gladys and as far as I am concerned, that drawing needs to be tightly sealed in Vivie's keepsake box where it won't cause any trouble.