Big Boy Bed

Well, the time has come for Zachary to move out of his crib and into a big boy bed. I have been putting this off for as long as possible due to the wonderful cage-like nature of cribs. They keep children coralled. But, last week, Zachary woke up in the middle of the night and I heard this big "THUD" and then a loud "AHHHHH". So of course I rush into his room, only to find him up and headed for the door, ready to come find mommy. I put him back in his crib and went back to bed, thinking maybe it was a fluke. But no, two hours later, there was a little head looking at me from the side of my bed with a blankie tucked securely under his arm. (sigh) Ok, I get the hint. So, off to Ikea! I have learned that single moms are about 30% superhero and 70% just plain insane. Hence me taking my car to Ikea and loading a huge bed into it, all the while keeping track of a very busy and curious two year old. We found a really cool bed there and I spent about 6 hours putting this thing together. But, in the end (at 2 am...) the bed was finished and I was really proud of how great his room looks. It's actually the most decorated room in my whole house. Zachary seems to really like his new bed, although he does NOT sleep in it all night, this is a process we are still working on. My motivation is sometimes cut short by my desire to sleep, so this may take a while. My parents think this is hilarious since I slept in their bed for a long time and they also enjoy the fact that I often have little feet poking me in the kidneys.

Also, I have learned a new parenting technique. Or a more realistic one, anyway. Zachy, like all toddlers, has a serious penchant for making messes. The other day, he took his Sesame Street cup of OJ and dumped it onto the kitchen table. I'm not sure if there was some rebellion or if it was an accident, but I was so upset as we were just trying to sit down to dinner. I whisked him up and was headed for the "time-out" chair, but then it occured to me, "Duh, make him clean up the mess!" So back we went. He actually did a great job wiping up the juice and putting the dirty towels in the washing machine. So yesterday morning he spilled his bowl of Rice Krispies, and instead of getting upset, I just said, "Guess you better pick that up." Which he promptly started doing. I gave him the dust-buster to assist in this undertaking, which he really loved, so now I have my own version of the Roomba.