My New Boyfriend

For the last month we have been bringing Jackson into our bed with us on occasion when he wakes up in the middle of the night (**see disclaimer below) . Matt's not too happy with the arrangement because he says that Jackson kicks him continuously throughout the rest of the night. I don't have the heart to tell him what's going on on the OTHER side of the bed while he is getting bruised ribs. You see, I'm pretty sure Jackson thinks he's my new boyfriend. He snuggles up to me, links his little arm tightly around my neck, kisses my head and face and back and pretty much whatever he can find to kiss, and says, "I wuv you Mommy." It's great fun. I wake up in the morning with a big smile on my face, and Matt wakes up needing an aspirin. I can only assume this is Jackson's way of compensating me for 27 hours of back labor and a c-section.

**For the record, and in the interest of maintaining our street cred, it's a really bad idea to bring your kid into your bed in the middle of the night. Your warm snugly bed is the best reinforcer in the world for a tired little two year old. What does a reinforcer do? It increases a behavior. Thus, bringing your two year old into your bed increases middle of the night awakening behavior, which can generalize into problems going to sleep too. I'm embarrassed to say this isn't just a theoretical example; it just took us a while to see the light. When you think about it, it's a nice little example of operant conditioning. Sadly we've had to put a sudden end to middle of the night snuggling/kickboxing.