I agreed that he could do it, BUT.... I had lots of requirements. Of course he was willing to do them all, all the whilst thinking his mother was rather over-protective. *smile* I said they had to have a groundsheet, and then fill the base of the tent with thick foamies, and then three blankets down, a sleeping bag and then three blankets on top. *grin* Seriously. I did not want them cold. My husband said, "Don't you think they will be warm enough?" And my reply was that it is fun to sleep outside if they are warm, but there is nothing like waking up cold!
Later on, I heard one of the boys coughing and it reminded me that a cough can go to the lungs and become pneumonia. I am not a nurse, but I know that two of the three boys who wanted to do this have been nursing chesty coughs for a while. Suddenly the idea of sleeping outside did not sound so smart.
I knew I was going to have to disappoint them. And they were.
The older boys understood but the five year old was rather sad. We had a little cuddle and I tried to think of something 'just as cool' as sleeping outside in a tent in the winter. What could I come up with?
"Hey, how about making a bed in my bathtub and you can pretend you are a baby bird in your nest?" (We have a very large soaker tub)
He looked at me and in his cynical little five year old voice says, "Yeah, right!" *how funny* Every day this little guy gets more grownup!!
So I say, "So where do you want to sleep?" Of course, the answer is "Outside".
Not happening!
Second choice - in our bed. I knew my hubby was coming down with a cold and was going to bed at 8:30 pm and would not appreciate a wiggly, squirmy little excited 5 year old kicking him all night.
Nope!
"Okay, I'll make a nest and be a baby bird."
Now he was excited!! He is much smaller than our tub, so it worked out nicely. One child happy. Two other unhappy boys. Oh well...
He dashed off to get his foamie, blankets and pillow and created himself a nice little bed. He jumped in and got himself all settled for the night. A little later, I heard him saying to his dad, "Are you going to sleep now, Dad?" as my hubby turned out the bedroom light. Our little guy had as close to a sleepout as he could get - the tub is in the corner of a fairly large room with 4'x4' windows on each corner - and the moon was out bright!
Sound Asleep in the Middle of the Night
What was the first thing he said when he woke up this morning? "Can I sleep there again tonight?" Too cute!
Later, at lunch time, the boys all went outside to the still set up tent and crawled inside to visit and play cards. I was doing some testing of Austin and wanted to have the house quiet, so they were thrilled to go outside. When Austin was done, he joined them and they all played. I then served them lunch and boy was it warm in there! I guess the noon day sun, plus four little bodies in a pup tent really creates heat!
Winter Picnic
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