co-sleeping-cons

This past weekend as the family traveled to Maryland for the triathlon, we were faced with a familiar “situation” in our hotel room. 

Two double beds + two brothers who refuse to sleep together = Divide and Conquer

“Who do you want?” I asked Dave.  Since he was racing, I thought it was very big of me to give him his choice of squirmy kid to bunk with.  He did the math in his head and quickly selected the child with the lower body mass and softer skin: Chase.  Seriously, the boy is like a giant teddy bear.  Rather than protest outright (because remember I am completely selfless), I casually mentioned,

“You know, sharing a bed with Noah could get more than a little creepy for me in the not so distant future.” 

“I know,”  he responded, but strangely didn’t think that the “not so distant future” meant later that night.  Dave is no fool. 

But my rationale for having the Mommy sleep with the 10 year old son rather than the 12 year old son was not without merit.  Aside from the fact that sleeping with Noah is an exercise in self defense (think flying elbows and talon toenails), I am indeed starting to get a little self conscious about it.  Despite the most genuine intentions, I’m thinking that “spooning” with your child who is almost as tall as you are crosses some boundaries.  But which ones, I’m not sure. 

This dilemma falls squarely in the category of parental judgment calls I refer to as the Age Old Questions — as in, “At what age is your child old enough to stop/start  ______________ ?” 

These questions are fraught with landmines.  Co-sleeping is powder keg of a topic when your children are babies; imagine the hissy fits thrown by the self righteous on both sides of the argument when your kid is old enough to have his own Facebook page. 

For this reason alone, you are smart if you ask only your most trusted confidantes their opinions on the Age Old Questions, because they won’t judge you when want to pack a bottle in your second grader’s lunch box hold out a little longer than they might. Also, you probably do not want to ask your husband the Age Old Questions because his response will inevitably vary 12 to 24 months from yours.

Especially if he wants a good night’s sleep.

What are some of your Age Old Questions?   Do you have an answer to mine?
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