Five nights

Five nights in a row I have slept in a twin bed with my daughter. In HER bed, in HER bedroom!

The Northern Lights Nightlight was what did it. And the timing was good, as Andy is on deadline and staying up late — plus his back was hurting — so he can sprawl out on the king-sized bed by himself. And there's the holiday weekend.

As I worry about her falling out of bed and bonking her head, or more likely getting wedged between the bedframe and the wall, the hide-away bed rails are on order. I have dragged her back from the edge a few times in the past few days. So I'm loathe to leave her until the bed rails arrive by next weekend. Despite the urgency, I wasn't willing to pay double to get the one-day shipping.

And I'm trying to figure out how to transition myself out of her room and back into mine. I'm lured by the memory of reading my book-club books in bed and keeping hand lotion in the nightstand. It might mean Andy coming in to retrieve me, as I inevitably fall asleep at the same time as Niranjana.

In the meantime, I'm able to get out of the twin bed without waking Niranjana. But then she wakes up while I'm in the shower — about 30 minutes earlier than I'd prefer. But she has been dressing herself (yes, the shorts are almost always on backward) and claiming to comb her hair.

"I get a prize since I got up before Daddy," she says, practicing her presumptive sales technique.

The past two mornings her prize of choice has been chocolate. Sigh... Today it was M&Ms followed by a hard-boiled egg. "How about we have an egg and chocolate at the same time? That's a great idea!" she says, while I add up protein plus fat and a little sugar — can't be that bad of a breakfast compared with fruit snacks.

It's like another gear has clicked into place in her head. So we'll see how this next week goes.