Bah-Free, Day Three

The last you heard was our desperate plea for help as we took away our son's beloved bah for good. You may have been wondering what happened to us. "Where could they be?" you've wondered. Dead? Arrested? Laying in the floor in a pool of their own drool because they've gone mad in this terrible process? Let me assure you, all is well at the Hickman house.

After that first night, Keaton has hardly even mentioned his bahs. Only once did he lament to me, "Mommy, my bahs are all gone." It was like he realized the depth of what had happened that fateful night when the Bah Fairy came. Other than that, he has been downright pleasant.

Our only real problem now is that he can't easily go to sleep without the bah. He can only sleep after he's so tired that he can't do anything else. On Saturday night, he was up until about 11:30. He wasn't crying or upset or anything. He was just awake.

Last night (Sunday) we tried so hard to get him to go to sleep. We had the radio on to distract him. He had his new bah-sized toys in his hands. When none of that worked, I finally lay down with him in our bed.

At 11:15 p.m., he was almost there - almost asleep - when his new favorite song came on the radio. You may be familiar with it, "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis (Keaton affectionately calls it "Keep Bleeding"). I knew when this song came on that it would take all he had not to sing along.

But then I found hope. After the first few lines, I thought we were going to make it. I thought he was asleep enough to not notice the song. Then, with his eyes closed, his lips began to silently move. Seconds later his foot started tapping against the bed. In the next moment, the silent words his lips were forming turned into whispered singing. Finally, at the very beginning of the chorus, his eyes popped open, he looked right at me, and he said almost apologetically, "It's my song, Mommy."

I could only laugh as he squealed "Keep bleedin, keep keep bleeding love."


Random Foot Note: Today when I was at the gym I had an important thought. If any of my former students have the unfortunate luck to need the services of Judge Judy - let's say the student painted a boat and the boat's owner refused to pay for the work, and the student is forced to "television sue" for the $534.27 - If any of my former students have to go before Judge Judy, I will just choke to death of embarrassment if the student begins a sentence with "Me and him was..." End of random thought.