This school year has been particularly hard (that’s not just me, right..?), but I don’t just mean in education. I honestly believed that the newborn phases would be the hardest, and then fall 2022 happened… Elías REFUSED to sleep in his own bed.

When we were experiencing the BONE DEEP EXHAUSTION of back to school and just wanted to fall asleep at our kids’ bedtime (7ish), Elías had different plans. He became terrified of his bed, under his bed, the door, the closet, the white noise machine, the rocking chair…. We tried everything. We consulted the pediatrician, Doctor Google, las abuelas, TikTok…. We looked for answers everywhere.

It was a rough semester of a mix of things – surrendering to letting him sleep in our bed; one of us sleeping on the living room couch with him; taking turns sleeping on his bedroom floor (ouch); tossing him to my mom’s house on the weekends (eye roll). We hit a new milestone this semester though! In January, Elías was finally willing to step foot in his room and get in his bed with mono (monkey) The catch: we weren’t allowed to leave the room.

So, a new routine started in January where Kyle and I switch off sitting on the rocking chair. We read a book with Elías, say the prayer; he initiates getting into his bed with just one more peluche, and one of us stays on the glider until he falls asleep and we can sneak out. He is fine for the rest of the night.

Except tonight, readers. I don’t know why I even tried it, but he climbed into bed, I turned on the white noise and turned off the light. I walked toward the door, hesitantly opened it, and walked out.

There was no “mami?” There was no shrill screaming. There was no “STOP!” There was no ear piercing shriek. There was silence. And a muffled cough.

Night one. Baby steps.