Sunday, January 3, 2010

Who Jumped Who?

On weekends, Annalee has a tendency to walk quietly into our bedroom - the only sound is of the carpet moving under her feet. She comes around to my side of the bed and asks if she can watch TV. After this happened a number of times, oh, at say, 6 a.m., I started telling her the night before if she could or couldn't watch TV.

So, Saturday night, as I was finally turning in, I realized that I hadn't talked with Annalee about TV viewing for Sunday morning. In anticipation of her morning arrival, and thus a God-awful-early wake-up for me, I wrote her a note:


I laid this on the floor of her room near the door. I figured that when she woke up she'd see it and go right into the family room. I was pretty proud of myself, too, for getting the jump on her.

So, I was shocked and almost incensed when Annalee came padding into our room with a 'booklet' for me - at 5 a.m. Ron told her to go back to bed because 'it's only 5 o'clock.' I echoed Ron's sentiments.

Annalee persevered and handed me the paper, which I stuck on the nightstand. Then, she padded out of our room. And, since Mommy had 'told' her it was ok to watch TV, she went into the family room and turned it on.

I thought this was insane. I couldn't let her start watching TV at 5 a.m., so I jumped up, marched into the family room and told her to go back to bed. It was only 5 in the morning and that wasn't what I meant when I said she could watch TV. Then, I added that if she couldn't sleep, she could read in bed. Which she did. And, then she fell asleep until about 7:45.

I, on the other hand, lay awake for another hour before I could fall back to sleep, thank you very much, Annalee.

When I was coherent at about 8, I picked up that 'booklet' Annalee had given me oh so early.


And, on a separate sheet of paper stapled to the back:


She had been so thrilled by my note that she just had to thank me. And, it was so important to her, that she had to give it to me in advance of that TV viewing. I felt about this big. I shared the booklet with Ron; he laughed and asked me if I felt really bad about it. I did. Of course.

And, then I wondered...

What time did Annalee actually wake up that she found two pieces of paper and a red Sharpie, sat down to write her note and draw the heart, use the stapler and then show up in my room at 5?


3 comments:

Becky said...

Motherhood is humbling, isn't it?
And yes, I had the very same thought before you even mentioned it - what ridiculous time was Annalee awake if she wrote those notes BEFORE 5:00???
Those notes are definitely keepers!

ATHEIST TRAVELLER said...

GREAT

Alice said...

Your daughter is definitely a blessing from God! Such a heartwarming story.