Wednesday, March 4, 2015

"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep....."

My husband and I, along with Paige and Dustin load up in the car and head to Kissimmee to stay the weekend with our old Florida friends Steve and Monie.  We always stayed with them when we came  to Orlando it get Ila in the summer.  

On the way it was pouring down the usual Florida afternoon thunder showers. On the way I looked back at Paige and Dustin in their car seats.  I noticed Dustin's passy fell out of his mouth.  For a minute I got distracted and when I turned around to put it in his mouth he already put it back in. That was a first.  Small little thing a momma notices.  

We arrived at Steve and Monie's around 4pm.  We got unloaded and were so glad to see each other.  We got settled in and started our visit.  Dustin always slept from 6pm to 6am like his sister Ila always did too.  

At 6pm I took him to the spare bedroom we always stayed in.  It was Monie's daughter's room, but she was over 18 and was barely home.  When I went to put Dustin to sleep, Butch, Steve and Paige went to the store.  

I laid down with Dustin on the all familiar twin bed on a box spring with no rails up against the wall.  It wasn't high up off the floor. Paige had also slept on the bed when she was a newborn in a prior visit a couple of summers before.  

As I laid down with Dustin I rubbed his back like I always did. I even ran my finger across his forehead, nose and cheeks to make him feel good.  He started drifting off to sleep.  When I thought he was asleep I eased my way off the bed in little steps.  First I stopped rubbing him.  He did not budge.  Then I moved my body away from him, he did not budge. Then I stood up off the bed, he did not budge.  I stood there a minute watching him and knew he was asleep.  

His head was positioned towards the wall.  No blankets and no pillows.  I was sure my baby was safely sound asleep.....

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I awake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.  God bless mommy and daddy!"......