bedtime music

Early this past summer, I began having my two daughters share a bedroom at night.  Curious J still sleeps in a crib, and Lyd sleeps in the twin bed that’s always been in the same room.  Lyd has always hated to sleep alone.  When she was relegated to the guest room for that year and a half after her little sister was born, she asked every night for either JJ or myself to sleep with her.  She was delighted when an opportunity came up for one of us, usually me, to share her bed with her.  So when I asked her if she’d like to move back into her old room with her sister, her answer was a completely joyful ”Yes!”

So far, the girls seem to like sharing a room; I’m glad, because I plan on having them share a room for quite some time.  They like to make each other giggle in the morning when they wake up, and I am pretty sure they are comforted by each other’s presence in the room at night.  But lately, something new has been happening at nighttime…

Curious J has been talking now for about two months.  In that time, she has also begun to sing.  So now, after we read a story, say/sing our prayers, give final hugs and kisses, and turn out the lights, I often hear singing coming from the nursery via the baby monitor.  It’s J, singing Music Together songs to herself.  Usually it ends after a few minutes, but sometimes J can sing for over half an hour.

It’s happened a few times where I’ve decided that her singing has gone on long enough, and I head back up the stairs to tell J to be quiet and go to sleep.  When I’ve entered the room, I’ve usually found a sleeping Lyd, and an awake J.  Lyd has fallen asleep (or mostly fallen asleep) despite her sister’s singing and noise.  If Lyd was awake when I came upstairs, I would ask her if she’d rather sleep in the guest room.  “No,” she’d sleepily reply.  “I want to stay here.”

A few nights ago I asked Lyd, “Doesn’t J’s singing keep you awake at night?”

She replied, “No, I like it.”

I thought for a bit and asked, “Is it sort of like J is singing you a lullaby, just like Momma used to sing you lullabies as you fell asleep?”

“Yes, it’s like a lullaby,” Lyd replied.

So, the girls continue to room together, and they continue to be the best of friends (most of the time.)  And I’m just not going to worry about the bedtime singing anymore.  It’s not keeping Lyd awake, and if J wants to sing at bedtime, so be it.  They’re happy, and it’s working, so why change it?

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(I figure that being able to fall asleep with noise happening is a good skill for Lyd to learn, especially considering that I have always been one who has required complete quiet to fall asleep.  Once I’m asleep, I can handle a little noise (ie. I can sleep through JJ’s gentle snoring).  But when I’m trying to fall asleep, I can’t handle non-ambient noise.  Ambient noise, such as nature sounds or cars driving by, is actually quite relaxing to me, as is the ticking of a clock or whirring of a fan.  But I cannot fall asleep with talking going on, music playing, the TV on, or, sadly for my husband, any kind of snoring.  It seems that Lyd won’t have the same problem as me, and that’s probably a good thing.)