goodnight tales

Miranda had a fabulous birthday. I think we will spend a week recovering. Around 7 tonight, I was convinced that it was Friday night at least.

The pre-birthday week has been fraught with bad sleeping, no sleeping, stomachaches and the like. Of course, now we’re staring at the pre-start of school week, so I don’t think trouble is gone for good. My latest technique has been total body relaxation. Just like in yoga class, first relax your toes, then your foot, relax your heel, and on upward. When I was young, my mom could lull me to sleep saying nearly anything. It was her voice. So when Miranda was wee and sleeping poorly, I tried all of the tricks. Songs. Stories. And Miranda convinced me my voice did not have that effect on her. At all. And I have tried the relax your feet, now your ankles, etc. in the past, No dice. This week, it has worked for 3 nights running. The staying asleep did not work the first night, it worked beautifully the second, and the third is tonight and I am typing away rather than sleeping. Dumb!)

Tonight, I am lulling Miranda with my voice. Your feet, legs, relax your stomach, up to the shoulders, down the arms. And as I headed back up the arms and to her neck, I catch myself saying “your book list.” And I realize I have lulled myself half to sleep and am having a weird dream about libraries. Or book stores. Luckily, Miranda was asleep. Score!

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Meanwhile, across the hall, Rob has bent his long standing “no talking after lights out” rule. No talking turns into some talking. Some giggling. Then usually Rob falls asleep and the child does too. I try to rouse him. Unless I think he’s really tired. Can I just say, we’re not great at bedtime. We’re not running a zone defense, we’re much better at man-on-man. Unless I don’t understand my foodball. Maybe we are running zone? Either way, Bella is downstairs with my mom while we are upstairs with the big kids.

Tonight, Rob had a funny story. He and Henry were discussing all of the things that didn’t exist when Rob was a kid, ’cause 35 is ancient, you know? They discuss walls, beds, ceilings, clothes. All, sadly, existed. Henry thought he had trump with what about the shiny round things that have movies on them? Rob conceded, but pointed out they did have VHS, the same technology Henry still uses sometimes.

Even Rob thought Henry had him beat with this one.

H: Did they have macaroni pizza?

R: Huh?

H: Macaroni pizza!

R: I guess not, what is macaroni pizza?

H: Pizza with the round things. I love it!

R: Round things? Like meat?

H: Yes

R: Pepperoni pizza? We had pepperoni pizza!

Rob recounted the conversation to me, so the dialogue is loose. But I really wish Rob had thrown in a Mr. T voice to pity the fool who didn’t think we had pepperoni pizza. Of course, Henry wouldn’t know who Mr. T was, so that would be purely for my amusement.

And aside to say that Romano’s in Cedarburg does have a mac and cheese and a mac and meatball pizza. And Henry and I have discussed this pizza. I don’t think we have ever eaten it. Henry also talks about macaroni pizza all the time. I usually tell him that the place we’re getting the pizza from today doesn’t have macaroni pizza and besides, macaroni pizza is weird. Now I feel like I have wronged him. Now wonder he thinks pepperoni is scarce.