As some of you might know, we played musical rooms recently, with Tessa and Riley ending up in the same room, and Emmett-as the elder statesman by almost 11 months-getting to sleep solamente. For some reason, in this specific situation Riley took to heart the responsibility of being the older brother. Once Mom and Dad leave the room, Riley (who sleeps in a toddler-bed and thus has access to the entire room) loads Tessa’s crib up with books, stuffed animals, blocks and even booty cream. Because of this, their room had to be cleared of everything that isn’t ok to make its way into Tessa’s crib.
Emmett, similarly, had a room purging. But of a slightly different sort. Because Emmett is a, shall we say, spirited young man who needs little rest, he is often awake while the little ones are still snoozing away. What to do with this extra time? First, the plan was to dismantle all monitoring devices. Both kids’ rooms have a video monitor, and Emmett, for a few nights in a row, disrupted the angle. That, apparently, was unsatisfying because the next move was to pull the plug on it. A few nights of this and the camera was removed from the room entirely. Monitoring devices gone? Check.
Second was an escape attempt. We all know that Emmett believes that there is something fun going on somewhere close by, and that he is driven to find that good time. An escape would mean that his possibilities were almost limitless. Emmett unlocked the windows and used the crank to open them up. Thanks goodness those little fingers, while obviously idle, are not strong enough to pull the screen free. Nevertheless, as the windows opening in the middle of the night sets off the alarm, the cranks had to be removed from the room.
Hmmmm. Escape attempt foiled. What comes next? If Emmett can’t find the party nearby, he will throw his own party. To begin with, he figured that he’d put the lights on all night long. What better way to see all the toys and books in his room? Although reading books is, generally, not frowned upon, if the choice is an exhausted yet literate Emmett or a well-rested and compliant Emmett, any parent in their right mind with three kids under the age of 4 will always choose the latter. So, the light bulbs had to be unscrewed.
The response to this over the next few nights was an unpleasant one. Anything heavy became a projectile that unerringly made its way to the door. An ability to ignore loud crashes and wood threatening to split is not easy to cultivate. Yet, we are sure Mom and Dad have been actively developing this skill. When playing deaf did no good, everything not fixed down to the floor was removed from Emmett’s room. This move, understandably, elicited first fury and then repeated apologies.
After two nights of nothing but carpet to play with, a sort of detente was reached and the toys were restored. We are all hoping for the end of this cold war, but as the key to Emmett’s modus operandi is to be one step ahead of his opponent, we are-none of us-holding our breath. What comes next for Emmett? Only time will tell.
As for Riley and Tessa, the first few nights of only having stuffed animals and a few books were hard ones. Riley, in the middle of the night, reached under his bed to retrieve a pacifier that had rolled away (he opts to sleep on the floor) and got his ginormous dome stuck under the edge. Thanks goodness Tessa and Riley’s monitor is still intact because when Mom and Dad heard Riley saying, Riley needs help! Riley stuck!, they could tune in, see what the problem was, and take action. A few nights later, according to Riley, a large monkey came out of the closet and took his bunny. This would seem bad enough, but the monkey actually gave the bunny to Tessa-in her crib. Although Riley can stuff anything grab-able into her crib, pulling things out presents a bit of a challenge. Tessa, being a loving younger sister who feels indebted to Riley for the cornucopia of toys he provides nightly, gave the bunny back to Riley. But Riley didn’t forgive or forget that mean monkey. Rest assured, Riley always remembers to close the closet door before going to bed.
Emmett, Riley, and Tessa
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