SLEEPING WITH GRANDCHILDREN


My grandchildren, Patrick and Gigi, rarely stay with me. When they do, I try to ensure they have the food they love and trips to the craft room or a movie during their stay. At ages six and eight, it’s essential to keep them engaged.
When I finally settle them for bedtime, my grandson will choose to sleep on the couch. Patrick often declares his intention to sleep alone throughout the day as if declaring independence.
Gigi will also assert that she’s sleeping on the couch, but at the last minute, she ends up in my queen-sized bed with two giant stuffed toys and Paddy. At that point, I’m comfortable lying supine while scratching her back until she falls asleep. Reading a book while scratching someone’s back takes talent, but I've perfected the maneuver.
Patrick doesn’t last long in the living room before he jumps into bed with us. Subtlety is not one of his attributes. Past excuses for suddenly sleeping with us include being afraid or seeing someone at the door, but the latest reason is a fly buzzed past him.
In the wee morning hours, I awaken on my side with not even an inch left of the mattress before I risk falling into the abyss. Two children, a dog, and two huge stuffed animals are all somehow draped over various parts of my body, along with an arm cast over my face. It’s at that point the couch calls to me. Paddy soon follows, then firmly attaches himself to my side while sighing as if feeling safe at last from the chaos in the bedroom.

I already know the memory of our bedtime routine will comfort me when all of us grow older. I still treasure my childhood memories of sleeping with my grandmother. I hope they will one day feel the same.
And I can’t wait until the next sleepover. I’ll catch up on sleep when I’ve left this world!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DR MCELROY AND TEXAS A&M

Image
  I’ve lived my life with integrity, compassion, and honesty.  I don’t back down from a controversial subject and will always speak out against injustice and prejudice.  I received many benefits from being White, although I was still short-shafted regarding equal pay as a woman.   Case in point: I was replaced by two men when I retired from overseeing a 36-bed rehabilitation hospital and 6 outpatient clinics serving children through adults. The man who replaced me had great difficulty managing the inpatient rehabilitation services. Hence, the Healthcare System overseeing the services promoted a male physical therapist to manage the outpatient facilities.  Each of the men was paid more than I.  It’s probably not a stretch to guess that had I been a person of color with the same credentials, I would not have been hired, and doubly so if I had been a woman of color with the same credentials.   A tenured UT journalism professor was recently recruited to Texas A&M to kick-start their jo
Read more

MY LIFE WITH TERI FLANAGAN

Image
  (Teri authored a story about me entitled "My Life with Dana Rushing" in the local newspaper after I moved from Horseshoe Bay to Austin. It was a total surprise and touched me beyond words. She is now in hospice at a facility in Marble Falls. Teri's husband has given me permission to publish this story. It will be in The Beacon this week.) I’m incredibly fortunate to have a friend I could call to assist me with the various projects I began or coordinated while living in Horseshoe Bay for five years. Other friends also answered my call to action, but Teri was always the first one I contacted because I was confident she would agree to help. Teri once said when she saw my name on her caller ID, she knew I wasn’t calling to chat and that she was being recruited for another project. Still, Teri answered my call. Teri is a talented artist and an avid reader. Her beautiful painting of a colorful donkey hangs in my home. A burnt orange wooden walking stick David made helps k
Read more

ROSA PARKS AND THE DREAM

Image
I dreamed of Rosa Parks last night.  She was sitting in a seat in the middle of a bus with Black men sitting on both sides of her.  I figured they were bodyguards and had joined her after news got out that this 'uppity Black woman' had dared to take her place amongst the Whites. The days of sitting in the back of the bus were over for her.  She worked long, hard days at low wages for a white family and had to take a bus every...damn...day.  Her great-grandparents had been slaves.  Enough was enough.   She felt she earned something more than a seat at the back of the bus.   She didn't know that this small act would set up a firestorm of millions of people being emboldened by her.  More and more people began speaking out, demonstrating, and even rioting to bring civil rights to the forefront.  The battle continued until, at last, civil rights passed.  Racism became somewhat more subtle over 50 years. But the Rosa Parks I saw in my dreams is still in that seat.
Read more