ANNE BRENTAR’S MORNING EMAIL

When Bonnie was quite little, well after her bedtime, I heard her crying.  Now, this was not normal crying, this crying was so pathetic, it just broke my heart, it was so sad!  Knowing that sleep does have its cycle of deep to light, and having been the mother who was halfway to her room when she cried out in a light sleep–the mother who would have woken her up by accident, if her bedroom had been any closer, because she rolled over, mumbled and went back to sleep before I got to her bedroom door.  Whew!  We live and we learn, right?  Well, I quietly entered her bedroom with the sobbing, not turning on the light, in the hopes that I could get her gently back to sleep.

When I asked her what was wrong, she sobbed, “Binky stuck–binky stuck!”  Well, this child never used a pacifer, so the binky had to be her version of blanket–which started out as a blankie and eventually turned to binky.  Not sure how the binky was stuck, but well aware that her life was incomplete without the binky most hours of the day, I turned on the light on her nightstand.  Well, it seems that I had put a new pillowcase on her pillow earlier that day–and it was made of flannel–just like her binky.  When I turned on the light, she was tugging at the pillowcase, trying to hold it close to her, but it–of course–was stuck “on” the pillow.  My solution?  Bright mother that I was–pull the pillowcase off the pillow, hand it to the sobbing child, who immediately stopped crying and went to sleep.  Ah, if only the solutions were so easy these days.

So, today’s task is to solve the problem first.  Usually, making everyone happy is an option that’s not too far in the distance.  Yet somehow, it often gets pushed off because the first question many people ask is, “Whose fault is this?”  We can definitely do some research and place some blame, if that’s what you really need, but most days, solving the problem is much more important than placing some blame.  Think you’re tough enough to find the solution before you look for someone to blame?  I will, if you will.  You are the Best and good things are coming your way.  And today will be filled with plenty of options and some things to make you calm.  Lead the way!  Make me proud!