Good night sleep tight

My son woke up after I had put him to bed. I was holding him in the dark, and he was making these soft cooing and singing noises trying to get back to sleep. It was so sweet, and I really felt like a mother. He laid his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes, but if I put him in the crib, he would scream. It reminded me of how much I like being physically close to my mother when she was alive, even though she wasn’t the cuddly type. Even when she was dying, my sisters and I would climb in the hospital bed just to be near her.

I was talking to a friend of mine about him. I wondered out loud when he would want to sleep by himself and not with us. She laughed and said that she was 41 and still wanted to sleep with her mother. She had plastic surgery and her mother was staying with her. They had to share a bed and she was thrilled. She said her mom had a “mommy smell”. Apparently, her mother smells like Nantucket (yes, we are talking about a well off family). She was like “Mommy!” I guess her mother was a little freaked out by her enthusiasm. Her mother said, “Honey, I got to go put on some lipstick.” And got out of bed.