I went to a meetup on Monday night and so Ken put Reid to bed on his own. While she insists that I lay with her, when it’s Ken in charge, Reid flips between wanting him to sit in the armchair in her room, lay with her and leave the room - often in a cycle in the same evening. The one consistency is the requirement for a strong stuffy presence in bed with her. On Monday night she had:

• 3 Care Bears (CareB, Thomas, Molly)
• WWF polar bear (Polie)
• small Winnie the Pooh
• Daddy and Baby Bunnie
• the lion that Uncle Roger brought when he visited last (L, an appropriately tough name, really)
• Princess Elizabeth, her birthday baby doll

With all of this company, you might think that I wasn’t required. But I was, if only to hunt down the stuffies who get tossed over the side or lost in the bed clothes in the middle of the night. Eleven in the bed really is too many. I think I’m going to tell Reid that I think some of the others are feeling squashed. I’ll propose a rotation. We’ll see if Reid sees through my ploy.