He EATS! He SLEEPS! Amazing!

Those close to Typhoon Johnson know just how hard it was for R to get to sleep. Oh, he tried. He was such a good sport about it. But every other night inevitably ended with him still up past midnight, trying to sleep.

We suspected that his drug mix contributed to all this sleep issues. I think we’ve been able to confirm our concerns. I now feel confident claiming that yet another side-effect from the previous drug has dropped off the list.

In the past, getting to sleep often meant he had to sleep with us in our bed. He’s eleven. and nearly five feet tall.  I love the kid, don’t get me wrong, but this sleeping with Mom and Dad has lasted a good seven years longer than what’s considered cute. We were accommodating him by letting him sleep in our bed because it was clearly a medical need.

No, really. A medical need. Not a developmental or a maturity issue. The drug side-effects gave him no real choice.

Of course, waking him up in the morning was just as difficult as getting him to sleep in the evening. It all balanced out…and yet, I believe we’ve put the sleep issues behind us.

Here’s what went down last night and why I make such a claim:

C had a rental movie for Sunday evening viewing. R and M had their homework done, and had slept well over the weekend. So, they settled down on the bed in the master bedroom to watch the movie.

R didn’t really get INTO the movie, as it was a bit of a character study. Not his cup of tea. Rather than being disruptive, however, he politely but firmly informed his mother that he wasn’t enjoying the movie and was going to bed to read. Which he did, at about 9:30pm.

A little after 10:00pm, I went upstairs to check on him. His light was out, and he was snoring softly.

No cat-herding him to bed. No pumping him full of warm milk to calm him down. No sneaky, sleepless late night prowling.

He just put himself to bed, felt the urge to sleep, and went with it.

In the morning, he was already waking up when I checked on him. This wakefulness in the morning is also becoming his standard. In fact, I think we can try an alarm clock again. The alarm was an abysmal failure before, but I think he’ll hear it now.

I just can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that my son now both EATS and SLEEPS.  We weren’t sure we’d ever see this day arrive.