Sleepstakes

Meimei is sleeping in her own bed for the second night in a row. Her bed, I hasten to add, is parked in Mom and Dad's room.

Jiejie is sleeping in a big queen size bed tonight, alone except for Philbert the cat. With the door shut. She has only come to our room twice for hugs.

At stake are a dozen star shaped plastic trophies in a box from Oriental Trading Company. Meimei has two proudly displayed on her windowsill. Jiejie has some stickers for trying. By morning, Jiejie is determined to have a trophy too. She tried sleeping with Meimei in her toddler bed, but Meimei was adamant. For the first night, Jiejie stewed. By tonight, she had a plan. So far, with the digital clock about to strike 2 a.m., she's sticking with it.

And I? I feel cruel for manipulating them with 99-cent trophies and sibling rivalry. But brother TJ is coming home soon and we can't have three kids of mixed genders in this bed.

Co-sleeping seemed like the best thing for the girls when they came home as infants.  But no one has written the book about undoing co-sleeping. I can't imagine what it would be like to Ferberize a 7-year-old who has slept between Mom and Dad for 6 years, usually clinging to one or the other and nosing across the bed like a heat-seeking missile when a grown-up changes position. So for now, I guess we're going with the Oriental Trading Company incentive program.