The Importance of Not Parenting Perfectly

"Can we have a sleepover tonight?" my youngest son asks. "It's my favorite night of the week!" he exclaims. Most would assume this is a request for a group of rowdy boys with sleeping bags to take over the floor of our family room with little shut-eye for the night. But in our home, a sleepover means something different. It is a family tradition stumbled upon in desperation, but now revered with great affection. It means that all four of our children climb into our bed in the early evening and forgo the usual bedtime expectations. What we do from there varies on any given night. Sometimes we watch "American Idol" or "Wipeout" episodes, with each of us picking a favorite to cheer on. We often take turns reading a few chapters from Harry Potter or other literary favorites. We study for tomorrow's test on the life stages of the frog, Jeopardy-style. During thunderstorms, they bring flashlights and make shadow puppets on the ceiling. Some evenings, the boys bring their Matchbox cars and turn my curled-up snoozing body into a mountain with my legs fashioned as treacherous mountaintop roadways. My daughter brushes my hair and applies glittery make-up to my closing eyelids. We spend the last hours of the day together in this five-by-five cozy tangle of blankets and pillows until we all fall asleep intertwined in each other. You may be assuming that I am some attachment parenting maven who created this family bed tradition in order to foster a safe haven for open communication. Th...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news