Scared of the Dark

Ella has developed a fear of the dark. I guess she's at that age where she realizes there are scary things in this world and being in the dark is not very much fun. When Julie and I were shopping at IKEA this past weekend, we purchased a "night light" for her. It's not the typical nightlight that's small and plugs straight into the outlet. It's a big plastic pink flower that you hang on the wall and it has an extension cord that plugs into the outlet. It looked really cute in the store, and it looks really cute on her wall... but it's BRIGHT! It lights up her entire room as if it's the middle of the day. We told her we would turn it on until she fell asleep but that mommy or daddy would turn it off before we went to bed. Well, needless to say, at 2 a.m. the other night, I was startled to find my daughter two inches from my face mumbling, "I want my fwower on!" After trying to explain to her that her "fwower" was too bright I tried unsuccessfully to get her to fall asleep again. I stole Parker's little night light and put it in her room, but by now she was wide awake and I think she assumed that it was almost time to get up for the day anyway. How do you explain to a 3-year-old that there's still a LOT of night left and it's NOT time to start the day?

She didn't fall back asleep.

She started singing, "Happy birthday" really loud, over and over. She sang it to every one of her stuffed animals (and there are a lot of them!)

About 3 a.m. I got her out of her bed and put her in bed with us. She climbed all over us, laughed, kicked, stood up, jumped... you name it. About 5 a.m. she finally fell back asleep. She got to sleep in. Julie and I didn't. She got to take a nap that day. Julie and I didn't.

Julie purchased a smaller night light for Ella that's like Parker's. She slept all night last night in her own bed.

Ella hates the dark.

So do I. I can't wait until we won't need night lights anymore...

Revelation 21:23-24, "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light..."