July 4, 2009
good night, sleep tight: winner #1
When I read Janet’s special bedtime moment, I wept a little, because it’s so beautiful and so touching. And then when the Random Number Generator chose her as this week’s winner, I got all teary again.
My daughter’s father was dead, and for a variety of reasons, she grieved alone. We had moved into much smaller digs. She was suddenly faced with all-day preschool, instead of the genteel three-hour version she was used to.
Bedtime was a nightmare. She wouldn’t leave my bedroom. Wanted to sleep in my bed. Cried endlessly and tantrumed frequently.
In short, she was completely normal after suffering a traumatic loss.
But I was at the end of my rope, for I too had suffered. A different suffer than she had, but I needed my space at night and I was frantic to resolve this.
Turning bedtime into a predictable and therefore comforting routine seemed like the only option.
And so it began.
Jammies. Teeth. Bedtime book — the same one night after night after night after night.
Snuggles and kisses.
And my final words as I tucked her in — words that I invented in desperation but that she and I still use with each other to this day, 11 precious years later:
“I love you from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the sky … and all the way around the world.”
Congratulations, Janet! Email me and we’ll get your tote bag full of bedtime goodies in the mail.
There are still two more totes up for grabs, so enter today: go to SpecialBedtimeMoments.com and share your special bedtime memory with the nice people at GoodNites. Then leave a comment on this post, sharing the same memory. Already entered? Doesn’t matter! You can enter — at the GoodNites site and at Friday Playdate — once a day through August 14. So do it now! More entries mean more chances to win.
Other incentives: GoodNites is giving away a complete bedroom makeover, valued at over $2,000. And, if that weren’t enough, there’s this: the GoodNites blogger with the most entries at her personal site will will $1,000 worth of bedtime books. The last thing my kids need is more books, honestly, so if you help me win, I’ll be donating them to an Oklahoma City agency that can share them with kids in need.
So come on, help me and help the kids. How can you resist!
I’ll be giving away another tote bag full of bedtime goodness in three weeks; enter early and often for your chance to win. But let’s maybe not make me cry anymore, okay? Thanks.
Disclaimer: I have partnered with GoodNites® for this series of posts; I am being compensated for writing about my family’s bedtime routine and for promoting this contest, not for endorsing a product. Just so we’re all clear.
Posted by Susan @ 2:50 pm • pretty things
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July 4th, 2009 at 3:39 pm, the planet of janet Says:
whoohooo!! thank you, susan!!!!
July 5th, 2009 at 5:08 pm, Jenny Lee Says:
Do you have a charity picked out for the book donation? If not, might I recommend Sunbeam Family Services? They have provide early childhood services and foster care services to kids in all kinds of situations. http://www.sunbeamfamilyservices.org/
We made a big, gently-read book donation there at Christmas and it was great. They made sure all of the kids got a chance to have a book of their own. Not to make you cry again but sometimes these kids arrive in foster care with nothing but the clothes on their back. Just having something that belongs to them and them alone means alot.