Paxton, who is 3 1/2, has been waking up at night worried that I will leave him. I'm not sure if this is a typical stage or residual effects from when I left and didn't come back for 6 weeks (when I was at the hospital on bed rest while pregnant with the twins in 2012). Either way, it's easier to have him sleep on a mattress in our room so the midnight drama will stay minimal and he won't wake up his brothers.
The other night he woke up crying out for me so I went to his bed and rubbed his back to comfort him. I am concerned that a deep sense of fear in him will last forever but if I just have the right words to say and can direct him to receive comfort from The Lord it will save him countless nights of terrors. My presence with him during these difficult times is so important so I am prepared to walk through this with him at this pivotal moment in his spiritual life. So as I comforted him during this traumatic time, I poured out my words to assure him "I am here all night and I will not be leaving. Most importantly, God's spirit is here with you and he will never leave you. Know that..."
"Mom?" he interrupted, "Can you just stop talking and let me go back to sleep?".
Oh.
Yes.
Goodnight, Son.
This reminds me of my youngest, years ago. When I would take his "why" questions a little too literally, he would eventually say, "Mom? You can stop talking now." :)
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