Where I will highlight some more of my Mad Parenting Skillz

So. The thing about parenting is that it is a non-stop job. I mean the very definition of the term "24/7". And, Honey and I are . . . lazy. So, there are, on occasion, times when our sloth-like natures are challenged with this neverending project called child raising. Most of the time, these challenges come in the middle of the night (or at the very beginning of the morning, if you're a glass half full kinda' girl).

This summer, our youngest daughter started this thing. At about 3 o'clock in the morning, she would come in and climb in bed with us. She would wiggle and kick until we were all 3 wide awake and 2 out of 3 of us were really annoyed. The being annoyed would drive Honey to get up and take her back to her own bed. And then the 2 still annoyed ones would spend the next 45 mins or an hour trying to fall back asleep.

Then one night (or early morning) she waited to climb in bed with us until about 6 o'clock. We were looking forward to sleeping in that morning, despite the fact that our children are early risers. We usually count on Bubba to handle morning duty when we want to sleep in. He can get the box of cereal out of the pantry and the pre-poured sippy cups of milk out of the fridge all by himself. And he knows how to work the TV.

So, when Brooke got in bed with us and started her wiggle thing, I was having none of that. I wanted to stay asleep for at least another hour and a half. So, I mumbled, "Go get in bed with Bubba." She popped up immediately and hopped out of our bed. She seemed really excited. And I knew that the thought of Saturday morning cartoons would not let Bubba stay asleep much longer, so a little wiggly, 3 year old visitor shouldn't bother him too much.

After this incident, Brooke stopped coming and getting in bed with us. We felt victorious as parents for making it through another "phase". Until, the first week of school. Mary TuTu woke up early one morning and found us getting dressed so that we could start the day. We told her that she was up too early and that she needed to go back and get in her bed. She informed us that she was scared because Brooke was gone from their room. She said, "I think she's sleeping with Bubba."

When it was time for the kids to wake up, we went in and found Brooke in Bubba's bed just as Mary TuTu had suspected. When we asked them about it, Bubba said,"Yeah, she does it all the time. She usually comes in around midnight."

Just as soon as I get caught up on my sleep, I'm gonna have a talk with that girl.