Kirsty's Blog: What a nightmare!

It’s just after midnight and he’s back! No, it’s not Pete coming home from the pub, (if only). No, it’s a large blue monster who, apparently appears in Carmel’s bedroom every night. 

I tend to believe her.  Not that she actually has a large blue monster in her room, I just believe that she thinks she does.  The scream that pierces through my sleep almost nightly, convinces me that Carmel is frightened, and alone.  The problem is, this monster is stopping us from sleeping...Carmel now joins us in bed, every night.  I am too tired to fight the monster, or my daughter and feel so guilty if I try to send her back to her room, where she is clearly terrified (or a very good actor). So she stays.

Every night for the past week or so, Carmel has slept between us.  I’ve tried the whole, ‘monsters don’t exist’ talk.  I’ve tried the ‘big girls don’t sleep with their mummy’s and daddy’s’ talk.  I’ve thought about moving into her bedroom myself, but so far with no success (I’m too tall). 

I am head-butted two or three times a night, punched in the face a couple of times and kicked in the stomach more times than I care to remember.  Bedtime has become a nerve-wrecking event for me as I await a tiny fist in my eye, or toe up my... anyway, it has to stop.  Only, I don’t know how to do it.

Carmel does rather like fairytales and regularly casts herself as the damsel in distress, awaiting a prince to rescue her. Perhaps that’s the key...Pete could gallop in on her hobby horse and appear to slay the offending blue beast before assuring her that all is well, kissing her and cantering away into the moonlight! 

It just might work! The thing is, I know Carmel and once she gets her own way and develops a habit, it takes some serious work to shake it off and no doubt the blue monster will mutate into something that ensures her place between us.  Needless to say, we’re knackered and delirious which all contributes to bad decisions in the middle of the night.  Perhaps it’s time to dig out an old copy of sleeping beauty....

Kirsty O’Connor Mum to Carmel 2 years – d.o.b. 26/7/06