A Life Changing Event

Throughout your life there are many things that may qualify as a "life changing" event.  Some are obviously quite important - graduating from high school, entering the military, getting married, etc.  Others might be more prosaic - learning how to ride a bike, learning a new language, joining a church, etc.

Today I have experienced one of those very prosaic types of life changing events.  But as I sit here tonight it feels very different.  I have gotten Zack to back sleeping in his own bed!

From a very young age - 4 months or so, Zack never had any kind of problem sleeping in his own bed.  However as he got older he got used to the concept of sleeping in bed with Patty and me.  While I was away traveling for work having Zack sleep with her gave Patty a great sense of security.  From the age of 4.5 years onward we tried many different things to get Zack to sleep on his own with out much success.

Then Patty got sick and we pretty gave up on attempts to get him to sleep by himself.  In the spring of 2007 I made the extra effort to get him to sleep by himself and he actually did for a while.  However it took a huge amount of effort to make this happen.  In the summer of 2007 when Patty wasn't doing so good Zack really felt that he had the need to sleep with me again.  Given he was going through such anxiety issues I couldn't turn him down.  And so from July 2007 onward he has slept in the same bed as me.

This afternoon/evening I finished a major project to get Zack's room totally cleaned up and back in to tip top shape.  With his room clean, I got out a lava lamp that he got for Christmas this past year and set it up on this desk.  Zack saw the lamp and decided that it would be cool to sleep in his own room for the night.  As the evening went on he attempted to back away from his decision.  I won't let him.

So tonight Zack is tucked into his own bed in his own room, by himself for almost the first time in 2 years.  Needless to say, I feel exceeding happy about this.  To me it has become a significant life changing event for me.

Besides this the rest of our day was pretty routine.  Zack had school and I had a lot of work.  Late this afternoon Zack had an appointment with the psychiatrist.  The decision has been made to start weaning Zack off the anti-anxiety medication that he has been taking for the last 2+ years.  I can't tell you how happy that has made me.

This evening we had the last science club meeting of the year.  It was a celebration of what the club has done throughout the year.  It was essentially a pizza party and all the kids had a great time.  Zack and I really appreciate the time and effort Gary Berkowitz (a.k.a Dr. Science) has put into making the science club a success.

Well - off to bed BY MYSELF I go!  Thanks and peace to all! - J.