The Stand

Elle is growing increasingly independent and as a parent, its both an exhilarating and frightening experience. One I’m sure more or less all parents go through.

For the past couple of months, our daughter has woken sometime around midnight, or shortly thereafter, and more or less sleepwalked into our bedroom. Mostly, we welcome her to spend the rest of the night between us. On less frequent occasions, Charlotte and I redirect her back to her bedroom and bed. She move about a lot during her sleep – often keeping her father and mother awake for hours.

But Elle is now starting to enjoy a more independent sleep and has begun spending awake time on her own. Once in a while, I’ll even hear her say, between several missing teeth, “Dad, I want to be alone for a while”.

And this, I suppose, is just the beginning of a life long process to free up space and reap the benefits of sovereignty from her two loving parents. Is it now only a matter of months before we stop reading bedtime stories and just wave goodnight? I hope not.