Viewing Window

Ugly Dawg, our
beloved pop-up is billed as a camper that sleeps 7. This is not so. Four is
about the max that she will hold comfortably. Toss in a dog and a baby and,
well, you’ve got yourself a crowded house. But we’ll do just that as often as
we can this summer and fall. Right now, the set up isn’t too bad. Harper (the
baby) is so small that she sleeps in an under-the-bed storage container in our
bed. It’s a King sized bed so we have no problem making room for her. The
container she sleeps in is cloth. I bought it a couple years ago to store the
kids’ artwork and craft projects in. We throw a blanket in there and she has no
problem sleeping in it. It has a convenient viewing window on the side so that
I can gaze at her sweet face while I drift off to sleep. I love it. I begged
the Huz to let me use it at home, in our bed, but he’s not having it. He thinks
the crib is a more appropriate place for the baby to sleep in. What’s wrong with him?

I want nothing more than to drift off to sleep each night,
gazing at her sweet face. She’s my last baby. Every first with her is
bittersweet because it is also a last. Her first smile was my last first smile
and it filled up my bliss tank enough to keep me humming show tunes for days. Every
time she nestles up against my chest and drifts off to sleep, I close my eyes
and try to glue the sensation to my memory. I want to remember the way she
smells, the sounds she makes, the warmth of her against me, the way it calms me
to have her there, where she should be, warm in my arms.

So, you can be darn sure we’ll be camping a lot this season.
If that’s what it takes to sleep next to my sweet Harper in her under-the-bed
storage container, that’s what I’ll do.

 

**It should be noted, for the alarmist readers among you,
that there is NO LID on the storage container.**