Sweet Dreams

Last night, it happened just like my mom said it would. I woke up from a deep sleep, my eyes fluttered open, and although it was still dark outside, I felt an unusual sensation: I was somewhat rested. I looked at the clock, squinted, and then looked again. It read 4 a.m. That meant it had been six hours since their last feeding. And just as mom predicted, I was nervous.

Not long ago, Mom had told me the story of when my sister first slept through the night. It happened to be on Mother’s Day, and my mom woke up with a start, realizing she hadn’t heard Angie all night. She was seized with fear and ran downstairs, muttering all the way, “Don’t you dare die on me, especially not on Mother’s Day!” Of course, Angie was sleeping soundly and Mom had a wonderful Mother’s Day, partly because she had had a long-awaited full night’s sleep. When Mom first relayed this story to me, I had internally scoffed and thought to myself, “What a worry-wart! When my kids first sleep through the night, I’m not going to feel anything other than elation!”

Wrong. Sorry, Mom.

Once I had finally done the math in my head that the girls had gone six hours since their last feeding (such early-morning computations are quite difficult for me. Even when rested, I find it challenging to even do addition and subtraction before the sun is up!), I jumped out of bed and rushed into the nursery, my heart racing. I knew the odds of something tragic happening to both of them in the middle of the night were slim, but nonetheless, I approached the crib with trepidation. I peeked over the edge and rejoiced to hear the sounds of little baby breaths. In fact, it was only a minute later that the girls started to stir, and I happily scooped them up. For once, they were more bleary-eyed than me!

Who knows how long it will be before they go another six hours at night. But I will thank the Lord for this instance and acknowledge that I was reminded of three vital truths:

1. The Lord is caring for my children, even while I sleep
2. A “full night’s sleep” is a relative term
3. Mom knows what she’s talking about