Will Emma Ever Sleep?
Parker
went to bed every night at eight-thirty. He got up every morning at six-thirty.
He only woke up in the middle of the night if he had a bad dream or if he
felt sick. But he hardly ever had bad dreams or felt sick.
Then Parker’s baby sister, Emma, was born. The first night after Emma came home from the hospital, she cried so loudly that she woke up Parker. He stomped to his parents’ room in his pajamas. Standing in the doorway, he put his fists on his hips. “Make her stop crying, Mommy!” he said.
“We’re trying, Parker,” Mommy said. She rocked Emma back and forth in the rocking chair.
“Go back to bed, Parker,” Daddy said. Parker stomped back to his room, and Emma still cried.
The next night, Emma woke Parker again with her crying. He jumped out of bed and opened his door. Daddy was walking down the hall holding Emma. Her head was on Daddy’s shoulder. She was crying so hard that her face was red. “Daddy, why is she crying again?” Parker demanded.
“She can’t talk yet, so we don’t know,” Daddy said.
“She woke me up!” Parker said.
“I’m sorry,” Daddy said. “Try to go back to sleep, OK?”
Parker really wanted to go back to sleep. But he couldn’t sleep with Emma crying. He trudged back to his room and closed the door. He crawled under the covers. He put his pillow over his head. But he still heard Emma crying.
The third night, Grandma came to stay. When Emma’s crying woke Parker again, he found Grandma in the nursery. She was rocking Emma’s cradle. Parker walked over to the cradle, leaned down, and looked at Emma. “Why do you cry all night?” he asked her.
Emma’s cries grew softer then.
“Keep talking to her,” Grandma told Parker.
Parker looked at Grandma. “What should I say?” he asked.
“Tell her a story,” Grandma suggested.
“Once upon a time, there was a baby named Emma,” Parker
began, speaking softly. “She was OK for a baby, but she cried all night.
She woke everybody up, and her brother, Parker, didn’t like it.” Parker’s
voice got softer as he continued. “So Parker told Emma a story, and
she went to sleep, and Parker did, too. The end.”
Emma was sleeping when Parker finished his story. He and Grandma tiptoed out of the nursery. Mommy and Daddy were standing right outside the door.
“Is Emma all right?” Mommy asked.
“She’s sleeping,” Grandma said. “Parker told her a story.”
Parker smiled at Grandma. He yawned. “I want to go to sleep, Daddy,” he said.
“OK,” Daddy said. He walked Parker to his room. Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma tucked Parker in and kissed him good night.
“Emma is pretty smart for a baby,” Parker said. “She liked my story.”
“She sure did,” Grandma said.
Then Parker went to sleep, and he and Emma both slept for the rest of the night.
