Amber Unintentionally Calms the Boy

Patrick woke up from yesterday's nap crying. This happens often. You see, he insists on his full nighttime routine even for naps. This includes covering him with every single blanket in the house, nearly. When he's particularly tired, he forgets to shed the extra coverings before dozing off. In the winter, this isn't a big problem. Matt and I are cheap enough that we keep the house a bit cool in the winter to save on heating bills.

In the sudden summer that hit...oh, Monday here...this can be a real problem. We're equally as cheap in warm weather, so the house is fairly toasty all the time. The ceiling fans only help the problem minimally. So when Patrick forgets to toss off the covers before falling asleep, he wakes up miserably hot. Cue the crying.

There's little I can do to help him feel better until he has cooled off, so I usually give him a few minutes to crawl out from the sweat-soaked covers and compose himself before rescuing him. After all, why should I frustrate myself trying to calm him down when all it needs is time, something he can take care of on his own?

But yesterday the few minutes weren't enough. I had to go help calm him down. I decided when I saw his sweaty hair that one of his favorite activities might be in order--a bath. I left him in his room for another couple of minutes while I gathered everything for his bath.

While I'm gone, I notice the crying has stopped. A minute later from his room: "Ah-boo. Ge dah. Ge. Dah. Ah-boo!" When I peek into his room, I'm already prepared for the scene. Patrick hasn't moved an inch from his spot in bed, but Amber is sitting at the foot of his bed. She's not doing anything but apparently it bothers him that she's there.

He is lying down, barely suppressing his giggles, as he adamantly tells Amber to get down off the bed. I was already smiling at this when I noticed the kicker: he had his pointer finger out, admonishing her, waving it around as though this is what would coax her off the bed more than his harsh words.

Funny enough, she didn't quickly respond to my orders to get off the bed either, as it was barely audible between my own giggles.

By the way, when he got out of bed, he'd left a Patrick-shaped sweatstain on the sheets. Poor thing. No wonder he woke up crying.