Jami and the Eternal Bedtime

It's an age-old paradox: Kids, who actually get to nap and go to bed at bedtime, never want to sleep. Parents, who need the sleep desperately, are lucky to see their beloved pillows (and woobies) before midnight. Sigh. I bring this up because Eddie, who has always been against sleep, is in an exciting new phase, in which he has decided that he never needs to sleep again. Naps have been a thing of the past for more than a year, but bedtime is now becoming Battlefield Bed. Last night, after I thought he'd fallen asleep, finally, I go upstairs to use the bathroom and he toddles out into the hall. "I'm going to stay up all night tonight." He announced nice and matter-of-factly and went on into the playroom. Because clearly, that should be fine with Mommy. After all, he'd been in bed for nearly 15 minutes, in a row. After 2 extra potty trips, one "I NEED MILK" and Mommy's threat of taking every train in the house if he called her upstairs again. He was rather surprised when I told him no, that he was absolutely NOT staying up all night. "Back to bed, buddy." He shook his head "No thank you." Needless to say, his politeness, while appreciated, did not produce his desired result. Howls of protest emanated from the baby monitor until I shut it off. Eventually, he did fall asleep. Until, apparently, around 6am when I heard my bedroom door open. Tiny footsteps approached the bed. Little soft hands clasped my face. "Mommy? Are you awake?" "I am now." "I'm just checking on you." "I'm okay. Thanks. Go back to bed." "Can I sleep here?" Normally, I'd say no. I should say no. We don't have the room to have a family bed, and with at least two of us being sleep-talkers and kickers (not to mention names, but the Husband doesn't kick and I don't talk) a group sleeping arrangement doesn't work. But, I was tired, I was warm and I just wasn't up for a battle. "Okay, but you have to sleep. NO talking or playing." Fortunately for all involved, he did. This blog was written amidst 5 trips upstairs (three to track down the cause of the footsteps - 3 potty breaks, one trip to the top of the stairs to see if I was coming to check on him, 1 trip to refill his water because of pathetic sobs between cries of "I'm sooo firsty!!" and one return trip because I promised that if he stayed quiet and in bed, I'd come check on him in 10 minutes. The last one I explained to him that I wasn't coming back until morning and if I hear him out of bed again, I'm keeping Thomas and James,maybe forever. So far, so good. It's been 6 minutes . . . .