Last night after Lily had gone to bed I heard crying and headed over to her room to investigate. Through the glass I saw her standing in the bathroom near her potty and as I came through the door she started screaming as though, instead of her mother, a horrid beast bent on eating her was coming in. I had been going on the assumption that she "missed" the potty and was deeply unhappy about that fact until I saw the abject terror in her eyes. Scooping her up in my arms I noticed she was completely dry and after softly whispering her name in her ear a couple of times I saw a look of recognition pass over her eyes and she calmed down.
"What happened?" I asked.
She popped her thumb in her mouth and reached for my ear. I waited for her to answer but she just couldn't. She seemed to be searching for the words, but couldn't get a grasp on the whole thing. I helped her get onto the potty and waited for her body to relax enough to pee. By the time she was done I was pretty sure I knew what happened.
"You woke up and you were standing in the bathroom."
"Yeah."
"And you got scared because you weren't in your bed and you didn't know where you were right away."
Nodding now, big wide eyes.
"And then the door opened and you didn't know it was Mommy."
"I cry."
"Yep. But you're OK now. Mommy is here and you're safe and you even got to go potty." I saw that last bit like it's a special treat... hey, I'm tired too.
"Yeah." She sucked her thumb some more and twiddled my ear lazily. I carried her back to bed. "I happy now" she informs me. I only wish I could get over stuff as quickly.
"You are?"
Another nod, this time with sleepy eyes. Within a few moments she was back in the land of nod.
Mark slept in her room that night, just in case she had any other unscheduled trips. My hope is that it doesn't happen again, although right now I am listening to her chatter in her room. She went to bed over an hour ago, so who knows if what I'm hearing is sleep talking or if she's still awake. She got a very late nap today, so it could easily be that later. Keep your fingers are crossed that this doesn't become a nightly event. I'm all for drama, I just prefer the type performed on stage.
