Every night before I retire to bed, it’s my duty to check on the girls. So every night, I open Lily’s door as quietly as possible and peek in–always finding her on her belly, with her feet hanging out of her blanket. Sometimes, the mere sound of the door unsticking from the door frame is enough to startle her from her sleep. And if that doesn’t do it, moving her blanket always does. She’s such a light sleeper. The “cherry-on-top” moment in all of this is that I get to see her go from completely startled to placidly content in about 3 seconds, as she lifts her head, exhales, and simultaneously inserts her finger into her mouth as she nestles her head onto the bed.

And then, there’s Cielee–the girl who can sleep through anything, except dawn. Cielee’s door squeaks like a dying pig everytime it is opened or shut. We thought about greasing the hinges, but we kinda like that natural alarm everytime Cielee opens her bedroom door. It lets us know she’s on the loose!

Each time I open Cielee’s door, it’s a toss-up. Is she going to be drooling on the pillow, sucking her finger, laying sideways, upside down, hanging her leg off of the bed, uncovered, covered, shirtless…? You name it. It’s possible with her. But the crazy thing is that the door-squeal never wakes her–never even startles her.  She just keeps on keeping on. So it’s my job to pick her up, scoot her into “standard” sleeping position, and cover her up. When I do that, she always reaches out like she’s falling, and I have to whisper to her that it’s “Just Daddy…”, at which point she sighs and grabs for her pillow. Then, I tuck her in, realizing that in a couple of minutes, she’s likely to do what I used to do when my mother would tuck me in–kick one leg out of the covers.

Regardless of which princess I am checking on, I swear my heart skips a beat twice–each time I open the door and see them sleeping away, and again each time I tip-toe backwards out of the room and shut the door slowly… so as not to miss one precious moment of this tranquility.

And it doesn’t stop there. No–the feeling lasts much longer! As I walk to my room, I always inhale deeply, whispering with a smile, “Thank You God!” The girls are safe and sound, my wife is there with me, and I can sleep soundly, grateful for the family with which I have been blessed.