May 2008 Archives

We've mentioned before how Josie wakes up every night asking for a glass of water. She'll chug it down and then fall right back onto her pillow, into a deep sleep.

What we haven't mentioned is just how demanding she is in her half-dream state. She never gets out of bed to ask for water. Instead she'll yell from her bed that she wants water. Bill and I usually have a cup ready right by her bed, so we'll go in and give it to her and then tuck her back in.

Lately, her demands have gotten much more specific. Just a few minutes ago, we heard some yelling from Josie's room:

Mommy! I want cold water... with ice!

So we took her some cold water, straight from the refrigerator, and she was pleased. Why do we feed into these demands from a 3 year-old, you ask? Well, a few weeks ago she had a similar request. I took her the cold water and then she stated that she wanted it in a blue cup. Her eyes were closed and the room was dim so I tried to pass off the green cup in my hand as blue. She didn't buy it. She started crying and asking for a blue cup. The only one we have was in the dishwasher so I tried to reason with her, to no avail. (Why was I trying to reason with a half-asleep preschooler? Well, I was half-asleep too.) She broke out into hysterics, all the while still half-asleep and unable to be reasoned with. It took her about 20 minutes to finally calm down enough to drink some water and lie down again. She's a pretty laid back kid, but when she gets upset, watch out!

So now Bill and I try to just anticipate any midnight meltdowns by having cold water ready for her when she wakes up. Luckily she hasn't asked for a particular cup again. I feel like a pushover already, without having to search the kitchen for a blue cup in the middle of the night.