Two a.m.

Most people don't have the opportunity to regularly visit with sleeping children.  When they're babies, it's common to watch them sleep.  New parents admire how angelic and peaceful they look.  Tired parents revel in the silence and admire the unique ability of little ones to sleep through most anything.Once they get a little bigger though, most parents tuck them in, pull the door closed, and hope not to see them until morning.  I suppose parents of teenagers see sleeping children again, but only when furiously trying to wake them for school.

In our house, we see a sleeping child each night.  When the alarm goes off for my daughter's 2 a.m. blood sugar check, it's never greeted with a smile or enthusiasm, but sometimes there are rewards. 

One night recently, my husband found her with her head where her feet should be.  She claimed the next morning to have fallen asleep with her head on the pillow.  Must have been some dream.

Another memorable night found her with her head and both arms hanging off the bed.  Usually, I try to disturb her as little as possible, but here I had to intervene.

We once found her sleeping sitting up with a book in her lap. It's that this has only happened once that really surprises me.

Trying to give her juice at 2 a.m. is entertaining as well.  Low and, essentially asleep, she's quite incoherent.  I'll gently wake her, saying, "sweetie...you need a little juice...can you sit up?"  Particularly if she's facing the other side of the bed, she'll raise her head, look around, not see me, mumble a bit and lay back down.  Once upright, she struggles to find the straw, opening and closing her mouth like a baby bird.  Then once she's had the juice, she doesn't know what to do.  She often just sits there, eyes glazed over.  "O.k.  You can go back to sleep now."  "Mmmrph..." she'll say, as she pats around her to find her stuffed bunny and cuddles back into bed. 

My favorite nights are when I find her just as she must have fallen asleep.  She's snuggled under the covers, her face relaxed and peaceful.  Her stuffed rabbit is snuggled in her arm.  It's these nights when I grumble a little less about being up at 2 a.m.  How many parents get to see their 10 year olds looking so sweet?  I take a mental picture.  Then I check her blood sugar, making sure to tuck her arm back around her rabbit.