original little hellraisers

…you finish the four books you read every night to him — almost ritualistically — curious george discovery day, curious george rides, owen and mzee and i’m the biggest thing in the ocean.  in that order.  if you try to read them out of order, he will correct you.

…you tell him it is time to lay down.  he crawls over and puts his head down on the pillow.

…you tell him night night.  he replies, ‘nigh - nigh.’

…you give him his ‘friends’: whale, elmo and kodama.

…you tuck him into his favorite red blanket.

…you tell him you love him.  he replies, ‘i nub noo noo.’ (i love you too).

…you don’t forget to turn on his night lights.  all three.

…you leave the room.

…twenty minutes pass and he’s yelling, ‘noooo!’, ‘nooooo!’

…you enter.

…you retuck his blanket, that he’s kicked off.  he’s wide awake.  he says… ‘tuck…?’ in this sad little voice.

…twenty minutes pass…

…rinse, repeat.