Conquering Fears

For as long as Hank has been looking forward to moving into Rocky's old room and having a bedroom all to himself, we didn't anticipate him getting so nervous and fearful about sleeping alone. It was like we had a newborn all over again: he refused to go to sleep, came out of his room crying every few hours that he couldn't fall asleep, and eventually ended up in a sleeping bag on the floor in our room. After a week of this nonsense (we tried night lights and leaving the door open, we suggested he go back to his old room shared with Ben, we prayed about it....nothing) I devised a new strategy: I bribed Hank with a special mom/son date if he could sleep in his room for one week without coming out. With some difficulty, Hank was able to sleep in his room alone and so it was fitting that, to celebrate, he and I overcame another fear together and went indoor rock climbing. It was ridiculously fun to participate in a physical activity together, full on compete, and mostly just enjoy each other. Hank is still struggling a bit with sleeping alone, but he's making good progress and I think in time he'll appreciate having his own space.