Bedtime with Mommy

Yesterday evening was MOMS Night Out with the MOMS Club ladies, and as luck would have it, Shrike was working day shift, and was actually able to go!

We lined up M to babysit (her sister S watched her last time I went out) but didn't say anything to Peeper about it until about an hour before she showed up.

Of course, that meant that I had to trick her into taking a nap (so she'd be okay with her past bedtime) instead of saying "Let's take a nap, so you can stay up late," but I was able to. We lay in bed nursing for about half and hour but I don't think she fell asleep (although I did), but then I manufactured an errand or two (those birthday checks really did need to be deposited) and she napped in the car for about forty-five minutes.

When we told her that we were going out, there was definitely some "I gonna miss you," but I don't think she quite made it to tears until the doorbell rang. 

Then M came in, bearing fun!

She says, "I brought a tent. You know, since it's Armed Forces Day (the tent was camo), I thought she'd enjoy that."

(This girl is fifteen, and she shows up to babysit with books that she's borrowed from her little sister and a freaking pop-up tent. Awesome!)

Peeper was quite impressed with the tent (set up in the sunroom) and I hear that she played with it quite a bit.

She was crying when we left, but M said she settled down pretty quickly and didn't cry again. She mentioned that we were gone but we "always come back" and was pretty content. 

Shrike and I took separate cars to the party (just hanging out around a campfire at one girl's house) and she went home around ten to relieve the babysitter (whose mom then picked her up, dropped her at home, and joined us at the party). 

When she got home, Shrike texted me that all was well, but Peeper kept asking for me, and asked me to head home in a bit. Before I that happened, though, I got another text, saying that Peeper was asleep!

When I did get home a couple of hours later, this is what I found: 

As you can imagine, I just tiptoed right out of there, crawled into the big bed, and went to sleep. At some point, Shrike joined me, and although I thought I heard Peeper a couple of times (turns out Shrike was able to butt-pat her back to sleep once, and either she just squeaked and went back to sleep the other time, or I dreamed it) she didn't actually wake up until eight o'clock this morning!

I took her to potty, then back to her bed and nursed her back down for another hour or so of sleep. 

Of course, I asked Shrike how things went and how she got her to sleep. It seems that Peeper was pretty tired by the time she got home, so they skipped her bath and just got jammies on and teeth brushed, then read some stories. She "cried a little" (I don't know if that means just wimpering, or wailing for a short time) and was starting to get her nose all stuffed up from it, so Shrike told her to take deep breaths and try to calm down. 

She told her to either look at her put her hand on Mommy's tummy and breathe with her, and said "My belly goes up, my belly goes down," over and over. 

Peeper breathed with her for a few minutes and conked right out!

I could not be more thrilled about this. Firstly, of course, for last night itself, but also it's great to know that she can go to sleep for Shrike without too much drama and trauma if she needs to. I can't imagine that she'd settle down and do it if I'm home, but maybe we'll find some excuses for me to step out for a few minutes at bedtime on Shrike's night off occasionally, so they can practice. 

I suspect that going to sleep for a babysitter would be a whole different matter, but maybe sometime we'll just do a dinner date that doesn't have to go way past bedtime, and let her give it a try.