Wanda moves at her own speed, to the beat of her own crazy drum. Her awesomeness will not be rushed and she very sweetly and joyfully goes about doing what she does. Last night what she does did not include going to bed ever. She would come down and get a drink and come down and ask us to unclasp her unicorn helmet, an hour and a half after she’d been sent to bed. That’s the problem, really, the sending.
We’ve been doing a lot better lately making bedtime a social experience, taking her up, reading to her, tucking her in, singing songs, and snuggling. Last night we fell back into the lazy, “Go to bed” mode and she did not, in fact, go. Well, she went upstairs. And she growled. And she giggled. And she kept her brother awake. And she did some feat of bravery, requiring a unicorn helmet.
And then she came downstairs when she couldn’t take it off. What amazes me is the way she so calmly and sweetly approaches us at 9:00 at night, as though of course she needs help with her unicorn helmet deep into the sleeping hour.
“Hey. Can you please help me get this off?” She beams.
Dan helps and sternly reminds her to get the heck in bed and stay in bed… also the heck.
“Okay,” she says unconvincingly. Then she bops out of the room, the unicorn helmet unclasped but still resting on her head. I wait for the sound of the stairs creaking. Nothing. I peek my head around the corner. She’s walking slowly across the dark living room in her unicorn helmet and Snow White dress, weaving back and forth with her arms arching and curving around her body in a slow motion interpretive dance. She is silent and happy and in no hurry at all.
I just stand and watch, fixing the image in my mind. I love that tiny person more than my own life.
And things stay quiet. I’m assuming she’s gone to sleep. And two hours later when I head up to bed, I find a love note on my pillow, a love note made on the stationary I keep in the cupboard in my room. Dan and I muse about when she must have made the note. Then we see it. A unicorn helmet sits at the foot of our bed.
I add this to my collection.
This is totally our Gracie if she has a nap after 1pm. She will come in and sweetly hug and kiss us like it is the middle of the day. No time limit for hugs and kisses.