Who sleeps where?

Who sleeps where?

Should the top bunk be reserved for the oldest, or should the younger ones take a turn in it? The novelty of sleeping in the top bunk deteriorated some years ago.

We were delighted when Daniel built two sets of sturdy cherry bunk beds for the children. They met the specs for DCFS for those who were in the foster system at the time. There was a girls' and a boys' room. It worked great.

Then Daddy went to heaven. Things changed. Everyone wanted to be as close to Mom as they could — especially at night. Making room for them all in my little bedroom seemed like the only reasonable thing to do. The youngest ones slept crosswise on a half bed mattress we had placed on the floor.

Floor space was basically non-existent, but we didn't care. We had each other, and that was really all that mattered. Prior to my husband's death I could not sleep well when sandwiched between two people when we had children with us in bed for one reason or another. Now I found myself sometimes sleeping with up to four or five children by morning. What a faithful God we serve — He knows just how much we can handle — down to allowing us to sleep in crowded quarters!

Transitioning back to bedrooms has been a stretch, yet we need to function as normally as possible. This summer the children were completely impressed with sleeping on our screened-in deck. Two queen mattresses worked well for all six of them.

I recall being in Haiti at an orphanage where I was enthralled with all these dear children. When we were told that they find comfort in sleeping together, my heart was touched. Today it makes sense in a way that goes deeper than it did back then. If little hearts are lonely or sad, they find comfort in being close to others.

Now that summer is long gone and the temperatures on the deck have dropped well below freezing, it is a thing of the past for this year.

I debated, prayed, and debated some more. There is a practical way to decide on a sleeping arrangement; we just needed to find it.

Finally this week I told the children I will need their help — I have a plan. We'll take apart the bunk bed in the boys' room and place a large mattress on the floor where the boys can all sleep together. They were sold on the idea. I had young helpers as we backed out screws, disassembled, and carried out piece by piece of the bunk bed.

We stood back to survey the change and the empty spot. "I can see where the bedpost was," I remarked, referring to smudges on the wall.

"I can see where feet were," Julia quipped.

I laughed. Yes, that is right. This room had a lot of loving, and someday it could certainly use another painting.

I got out some sudsy cleaner and sprayed that wall while Hosanna and Joshua scrubbed away on it. We certainly wouldn't want to do without dirt — surely then we would be missing out on healthy youngsters or healthy fun.

Once the floor was cleaned and dried, we fetched a queen mattress and placed it in the corner. Warm circles chased around my heart as I thought of our friends, the Razvi family, who also used mattresses on the floor for their large family and had experienced the miracle of adoption. At their house, our children loved playing on the mattresses on their level where they could easily get on and off.

Along the front side of our mattress, I placed a row of pillows for the four boys where I could easily reach all of them when I came to bless them and pray for them before they fall asleep.

Bedtime is not perfect, but it is precious. How well I remember before Daniel passed, how it was one of the most intense part of the day for us. We both felt like there is a better way to get children (including those who had been through trauma) to settle down peacefully in a timely manner. Today I don't feel like I have found all those keys, but I look back and I see that God has been faithful every one of those nights both before and after Daniel's death.

Before Daniel passed there would be times he would sing homemade songs for the children. I knew how exhausted he was, yet it brought smiles to their faces. The songs he made up as he went were usually about the three young men in the fiery furnace and how Jesus came to be with them and kept them safe in the fire.

Even now as we walk this pathway of life there are times when it feels fiery, and yes, there is One who walks with us. He keeps us from being burned and brings much joy and peace.

Last evening we all gathered in the boys' room for our bedtime story and prayer. It is important to the children that we pray for protection over our dreams. They notice a distinct difference in not having bad dreams, especially when they personally pray out loud about it before falling asleep.

And who is supposed to make the bed, with four boys in it? I have yet to find a boy who enjoys the job! I took Julia's idea of each of them using their own blanket then tossing it into a tote the next morning. Presto. Too easy — though I'm discovering it's up to me to get even that simple habit grooved into their brains of placing the blanket where it belongs! This morning we did a practice run before they went to school, to simplify things for the future — they really won't mature with a dozen reminders.

BUTTERSCOTCH-GRAHAM CRACKER CHRISTMAS CANDY

Ingredients

· Saltines or graham crackers

· 1 cup butter (use only ½ cup for crunchier candy)

· 1 cup brown sugar

· 1½ cups chocolate chips

Instructions

· Put a single layer of saltine or graham crackers side by side (with 4 sides touching one another) on a 10 by 15-inch rimmed cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper.

· Bring butter and brown sugar to a rolling boil. Boil for three minutes.

· Spread mixture on top of crackers.

· Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

· Bake crackers with sauce for 5 minutes.

· Remove from heat and immediately sprinkle with 1½ cups chocolate chips. Let set three minutes and then spread melted chips over with a butter knife.

· Cool and break into sized pieces of your choice.