Lilypie
Not flesh of my flesh
nor bone of my bone
but still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute
you didn't grow under my heart
but in it!


Friday, August 21, 2009

Another (and Probably Final) Toddler Bed Update

Gabriella is not sleeping in her toddler bed. After only one full night of sleeping in it with Ken on the floor next to her, another partial night in which she woke up crying, and another night resisting sleeping in it altogether, Gabriella is back in bed with me. Most people do not understand this and think she should be in her own bed (for her benefit and ours). I will not allow her to cry herself to sleep or sleep alone when she is scared, however appropriate that might be for unadopted children. Like other adopted children, Gabriella has already been through a lot of trauma in her early life and the typical parenting rules don't apply. Gabriella's fears are completely legitimate and are based on REAL experiences. In her young life her world has already been turned upside down several times, first in losing her birth mother, next in losing her foster family, and then finally being dropped into a new life with "strangers" in a new land. How could she not be terrified that it would happen again? She WILL come to realize that I will NOT be leaving her, but it will take many years of reassurance and reassuring acts. The least I can do is share my bed.

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