It’s been a while since we’ve talked about Rowan on here in terms of his sleep and behavior. Its hard to really give a confident judgement of things, being as his routine is out the window this summer! Everything is completely different than how it was, so there has been a time of change and adjustment there. But he’s doing well in many ways, and I have enjoyed watching him learn to roll with the punches the best way he can.
I don’t remember if I talked about it in detail, but when we first got to the lake, Rowan did his fair share of sleepwalking. It was similar to how he sleepwalks at home, except less familiar. He would climb out of his bunkbed, mildly distressed, and come find me. I would do as usual, and gently walk him back to bed. No fuss, no muss.
Except, the camper was less familiar, as I said. When I’d try to lay him back down, he would lay cross the other boys, perpendicular to his bed. I would try to help him get to his spot, and he would get very upset. Then, usually, he’d wake up, and PANIC. He would scream and tantrum and wake the whole family and he was completely irrational.
It. Was. Horrible.
We’ve settled in well since then, and he hadn’t walked in his sleep at camp for weeks. But he did this last time. Once.
I woke up to him crying, stumbling around, trying to get out of bed and find us for help. I went to him right away, and he easily submitted to me walking him back to bed. But he did the dreaded move – he lay across the beds, with his legs on Solly and his feet touching Dekker. I was SO soft and sweet with him, trying to very simply explain his position, and that he was on Solly’s bed. He immediately got upset and said Solly always was touching his bed. Haha! Not the point, but I giggled a little at his sleepy defence. I was trying to work quickly to get him back to where he belonged without waking everyone, but without upsetting him further and waking him up. I said over and over “I want to help you, Rowan. I’m going to help you. Please let me help you!” And thank the Lord, I got it right!
I crawled past Rowan onto his mattress, and said “Oh wow! Rowan! I found your pillow! Its over here!” In that moment, he heaved an audible sigh of relief, and sat back up in an effort to come over to me. But he was SO disoriented and droopy, he lay down in the proper direction, but was still very far from his pillow. He started to cry again, so I said “Rowan, can I help you get there” and he paused….. and then whispered “Yes please.” So I hooked his armpits and hauled him up to his pillow with me.
The moment he felt his pillow, he grabbed his blanket in one arm, put me in a headlock in the other arm, and kissed my face over and over and over. Probably almost ten times. And then his arms relaxed, and he settled into his mattress. Not another sound.
And guys, it felt SO VICTORIOUS. No one got mad. No one panicked. I thought really clearly, considering the hour of the night, and he was receptive and willing to work with me. He trusted me. And God directed us, as he does.
I had a hard time winding down after that. Not because I was all flustered and worked up, but because I felt SO GOOD. I was so grateful for how well that interaction had gone!
And he had zero memory of it in the morning. What a win! Thank you, Lord!