Tonight Perry is out as a sponsor for his school's 30-hour-famine, an all night affair, and Ari and I had the day and evening on our own. Perry has recently been handling the bedtime routine, and so Ari found it a little funny for me to be bathing him and reading him stories. And when it came to the part where Perry usually dances him to sleep, well he was having none of it. He wasn't upset, he just had no plans of sleeping. 8:00 passed. 8:30. 9:00. Nothing was working. It had been a long day. The house was a disaster and I was in need of a break. 9:30. 10:00. No sleep. I started getting desperate. The lullabies were not working. Killing time watching babies laughing on youtube was not working (yup, that desperate.) So I pulled out the wrap sling that we have not used in ages, put a hat on him and wrapped us both up in a warm wool shawl and headed outside. It was dusk and the sky was still a pinkish orange. The birds were singing their last noisy evening songs and we could hear an owl's rusty hoot in the distance. Wood-smoke wafted down from the house's chimneys as I walked determinedly though the hayfield. Ari looked around surprised at this change of evening ritual. I just kept walking. The air felt good in my lungs and I could feel us both relaxing. We watched the first stars peek out and the colour change in the sky. Eventually Ari looked up at me and watched my face for awhile. He gave me a smile and then laid his little head on my chest and fell asleep. His warm little feet under the shawl, his deep contented breathing, the cold evening air filled with spring, the birds and the grass and the great big sky. I walked up to the swings on the open edge of the big hay barn and we swung gently together as the light faded from the sky and the house lights shone out across the yard and the trees turned to silhouettes against the sky. The warmly lit house with the lullaby music still playing felt quiet and blessed. I laid Ari down in the bed and watched his little chest rise and fall for awhile, both of us breathing deep and slow and contented.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Night walking
Tonight Perry is out as a sponsor for his school's 30-hour-famine, an all night affair, and Ari and I had the day and evening on our own. Perry has recently been handling the bedtime routine, and so Ari found it a little funny for me to be bathing him and reading him stories. And when it came to the part where Perry usually dances him to sleep, well he was having none of it. He wasn't upset, he just had no plans of sleeping. 8:00 passed. 8:30. 9:00. Nothing was working. It had been a long day. The house was a disaster and I was in need of a break. 9:30. 10:00. No sleep. I started getting desperate. The lullabies were not working. Killing time watching babies laughing on youtube was not working (yup, that desperate.) So I pulled out the wrap sling that we have not used in ages, put a hat on him and wrapped us both up in a warm wool shawl and headed outside. It was dusk and the sky was still a pinkish orange. The birds were singing their last noisy evening songs and we could hear an owl's rusty hoot in the distance. Wood-smoke wafted down from the house's chimneys as I walked determinedly though the hayfield. Ari looked around surprised at this change of evening ritual. I just kept walking. The air felt good in my lungs and I could feel us both relaxing. We watched the first stars peek out and the colour change in the sky. Eventually Ari looked up at me and watched my face for awhile. He gave me a smile and then laid his little head on my chest and fell asleep. His warm little feet under the shawl, his deep contented breathing, the cold evening air filled with spring, the birds and the grass and the great big sky. I walked up to the swings on the open edge of the big hay barn and we swung gently together as the light faded from the sky and the house lights shone out across the yard and the trees turned to silhouettes against the sky. The warmly lit house with the lullaby music still playing felt quiet and blessed. I laid Ari down in the bed and watched his little chest rise and fall for awhile, both of us breathing deep and slow and contented.
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this is a gorgeous post, taimarie. i love your description of just before ari fell asleep.
ReplyDeletelately my partner has been out all day + night with his school-related stuff- it's given me a whole new respect for single mamas!
beautiful...that's exactly how my two little ones needed to fall asleep for the first 2 yrs of their lives.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely photo! It must be an amazing feeling to share that experience with your child! And it sure beats putting him in the car and driving him around!!
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely post, how sweet your
ReplyDeletelittle one is!