The Stunk

Margaux just recently realized that she can get out of bed on her own. Yes, we know we are lucky that we’ve had 3+ years without worrying about her wandering around while we are asleep. Well, a few weeks ago she started coming into our room in the morning when she was ready to get up. Not a big deal because she doesn’t get up too early. But, then it progressed to where she was getting up during her nap or getting up right after we had put her down for the night. Then, it got worse. She would get up in the middle of the night and come tell us she was up and not go back to sleep for a couple of hours. We felt like we were back in newborn-land. So, I decided we had to do something, anything, to see if we could get this to stop. I bribed her. I told her that if she could stay in bed all night and not wake up Mommy and Daddy until the sun came up, she could have a reward. First, she wanted to know what exactly the reward was. I told her to pick what she wanted. She said she wanted to go get frozen yogurt with gummy bears in it. I said, “You’ve got yourself a deal, kid,” and we shook on it. Right before I put her to bed that night, just as I was about to walk out of the room, I said, “See you in the morning.” This little voice replied, “OOOOKayyyyy, but I’m a stunk.” I said, “You’re a what?” She said, “I’m a stunk. I play while others sleep.” Turns out she had heard about skunks being nocturnal, and she decided that’s what she was. She did, however, sleep through the night and earned her reward. At the risk of jinxing us, she’s slept through the night every night since. Who knew bribery could work so well?