Now that I think of it, I remember always being able to crawl into my
parent's bed (mum's side)if I had a bad dream or needed some comfort,I
remember mom lifting the covers and letting me in, the warm smell as I'd
snuggle up into her very ample bosom. Dad may have felt funny about it, but
never said anything to make us stop. one of my fondest memories is all of us
three kids crawling into our parents bed on Sunday morning and playing games
under the covers. we called it "the underwater fish club"
to this day I can pop over to my parents house and find my 32 year old
brother or 38 year old sister having a cuddle with mom in bed while watching
t.v.

oddly enough mom reacted funny at the begining to the way my husband and I
decided to raise our family (attachment parenting), even though she actualy
practiced it in a "round about, no text book sort of way", she breastfed all
three of us despite none of her friends doing so (wasn't the fashion in the
early 60's), we were always very welcome in their bed, and mom never stopped
cuddling and touching us to this very day. thankfully she followed her
mothering instincts in a very non-conscious way when it came to us kids.

now that my eldest is 2 years old, and is such a calm, happy,bright, relaxed
and confident child, my mother agrees that family bed, extended
breastfeeding and extensive carrying of the child has got to be the major
contributing factors to our childrens well being.

by the way Jan, re night terrors - Eden used to have them for a while,when
she was about 12 months old,  a very frightening thing for a parent to see.
I think Dr. Sears talks about these episodes as being quite *normal* , I
think I read it in "The Babybook", but I lent my copy out and can't check
for sure.
even now she sometimes wakes up crying from a bad dream, at least she doesnt
have to cry out loud
until someone down the corridor hears her, she just has to turn to one of us
lying next to her for a comforting embrace.
I confess that sometimes it can be annoying, to find myself with one babe
attached to my breast and another wrapped around my head and my body
contorted to try and play footsie with my husband who for some reason seems
to always have 3/4 of the mattress to himself. but my moments of grace are
when I wake up every morning with my 5 month old's angelic face two inches
from mine, sleeping peacefully and my 2 year old strewn across the pillows,
to be able to watch them in those magical moments when they wake up. NOTHING
beats that! I can't even imagine them sleeping in another room.


Jackie Atiya, cbc Israel

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