Saturday, January 12, 2008

Sleep-on-your-own trysts!

Recently I've started asking Anirudh to sleep on his own although in our own bedroom and not in a separate room. And he just doesn't like the idea. Which is but obvious since he's always had me or hubby by his side when it was time to sleep. He would snuggle into us and doze off after a story or two.

So one day one excuse, another day another excuse keeps popping. One day he tried to emotionally blackmail me by saying his pet lines "Main udaas ho jayunga!" (I will get sad).

Yesterday was the most creative excuse came out. I frankly cannot call it just an excuse. It was something that scares him. And I was surprised at his vivid imagination. One may think at one point I'm talking about him being scared and at the same time I am talking about imagination? Whats got one to do with the another? Read on and it will be all so crispy clear! I will give a background before I proceed to tell the incident.

The background:
In our bedroom, I've a window in which we have an AC fitted towards the lower portion of the window. In Summers, I fold the curtain in half because we want the window covered but not the AC. The curtain belongs to the era when we didn't have an AC fitted there so its a long one.

And being the lazy me, instead of doing a temporary stitch I just pin it up using safety pins at three points - one each at the either ends and at the center to hold the fold.

Here's the picture of the curtain:


The incident:
Yesterday when I asked him to sleep on his own at night, he was making all sorts of his usual excuses - "Main udaas ho jayunga", "Mujhe aapki yaad aayegi" etc etc.

When I told him Mumma will come later after sometime, he started saying there is a monster there. When I told him there isn't, he points at the curtain on the window and says "Hai. Dekho uski eyes bhi hain!" (There is. See it has eyes also). And when I looked at the curtain I realised what he was talking about. Look at the picture above and you will also know what he meant.

See those curves where the light is coming through the curtain? They actually can be taken as big gigantic eyes by anyone who uses imagination and makes things out of nothing. I was speechless for a moment. I tired to tell him that there is no monster and even touched the curtain, moved my hand behind it. But I knew he was not satisfied. So I went ahead and unfolded the curtain. Something which I should have ideally done long ago when we stopped using the AC but being the lazy me, what more can I say :D

But I knew he won't be comfy even then and it might take a day or two for him to stop being scared of it. But I'm going to continue trying again from today onwards. He sleeps on his own at the daycare but at home, he is adamant about it. I know this will take some time but I know he will start doing it sooner than later.

8 comments:

Sukhaloka said...

I could see the "eyes" instantly - my goodness, that's quite scary! Could you put up a thicker curtain to hide the "eyes"?
Good luck with the sleep struggles, he will come round eventually!

Asha said...

It does look scary.. Imagination or not, even I would be scared to sleep with this monster in a room.

PG said...

I saw them too, those huge and scary eyes. And yes, he needs time, when you think of the number of days he has always slept with you or his papa. I'll give him at least a few months time. But he will start sleeping on his own sooner than later. And once he starts doing it will make you happy too. Happy because for me it is a big step towards growing up, becoming independent and self confident. And that you showed him that you trust him with this.

Unknown said...

awww..let him sleep with u...move him once hes asleep...after all they grow up so fast...next thing u know, we will be missing the oppurtunities we have missed where we cud sleep with our nose buried in their hair...

Anonymous said...

yeah, agree with Pravin. Let him sleep with you, you will miss it later.

Anonymous said...

so much Calvin like :-)

Ruchika said...

Why not put up some thing on teh curtain, like a second fabric stitched on top, so it looks like the moon and the stars. That'll be cute for him and not so scary. I know it sounds time consuming. Maybe you could get Anirudh to paste them with glue once you have cut up the fabrics.

Just Like That said...

Awww.. It does look like a black monster with big staring eyes. Poor Anirudh!
Hmm, guess over time he'll know there's no monster.
We still sleep with Sonny Boy. :-)