"They're laughing at you!"

     Monday night John and I were laying in bed at our usual early hour of retiring... somewhere about 8:30 or so.  Infact i'm pretty sure that John was already asleep at this point, and I had just rolled my butt into the bed, being careful to position my two sleep partners (pillow one- goes between my legs and moshie pig- snuggly holds my belly as I hold onto it!) into place.  So, you get the picture.

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Just to fill you in John, myself and the dogs have a strict bed routine every night, it goes something like this:


John takes all the "decorative" pillows off the bed and replaces them with the extra pillows that I now need to sleep comfortably every night.  Next, he puts the Tex blanket on the bed, which is an old NC State oversized blanket that we put on the bed so that the dogs don't get our nice comforter dirty.  John then gets into bed.  Tex is usually the next warm body to join him.  Marabelle waits on me to get out of the shower and then she joins the group on the bed.  So, you can imagine John in the bed, Tex right next to him as if they are married and have been sharing a bed together for sometime now.  Marabelle almost always occupies a lower corner of the bed and is usually asleep as soon has her chin hits the bed.  By this point, I'm making my last minute runs in and out of the bedroom to get a cup of water, fill up the humidifier, get my cellphones to charge, get my retainer, and the list goes on and on. 


Once i finally have everything I need to lay down and sleep soundly, the first thing I do is get Marabelle off the bed.  And EVERY night.... it never fails, as soon as I go to her to pick her up, she rolls onto her back, legs spread- eagle as if to say, "Alright mama, I'm ready for you to put me to bed."  Since I have been pregnant I have had to modify how I get her onto her pillow bed, that sits floor next to the side of the bed that I sleep on.  I grab all four of her legs and swing her onto her bed, so as not to strain my stomach.  (I guess to someone that's never seen me do it, it would be pretty funny.)  Anyhow, Tex is next.  I say, "Tex get up."  And he doesn't move, maybe an occasional head raise as if to say, "Are you serious?"  Then, John says, "Tex get up."  And what do you know, he pops up and heads for his spot, halfway in, halfway out of our closet and plops down.  I then take the Tex blanket and fold it up and place it under Tex's head, where it stays until the next night's routine.  THEN, I climb into bed!

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     So, we've made it to this point in our routine Monday night.  I'm laying there watching TV and John is sound asleep.  I started drifting off myself and turned off the TV to go to sleep.  I'm guessing the TV had been off maybe 15 minutes and I was just about ready to fall into oblivion when I hear Marabelle launch a playful attack on Tex!  And they are going at it full speed.  
     Now occasionally we have these nights with Marabelle when she hasn't properly made up her mind that it is time to go to bed.  It usually results in her running in and out of the room throughout the night, doing God knows what through the house.  We used to try to calm her down, but now we just let her go and try to sleep through it.  Eventually she gives up because no one will play with her, and she jumps on the bed and goes to sleep.
     I knew we were really in for a night of trouble since Marabelle had gotten Tex into the game.  I let them wrestle and play for a few minutes hoping that Tex would give up and just lay down; but that wasn't the case.  This was a full on play session.  Marabelle was jumping off and on the bed and Tex was chasing her from one corner of the bed to the other.
     I decided that enough was enough and as soon as Marabelle made her next leap onto the bed, I raised up and starting fussing at her.  I told her calm down and get her butt on her pillow.  She was looking at me with those big dark eyes, and it looked like I had really made an impression on her, until she jumped back down on the floor and made another lunge at Tex.  Well I was ticked!
     To my surprise, John rolls over giggling and says, "They're laughing at you.  They aren't paying you any attention.... They're laughing at you!"  Well, my blood started to boil and I was about to bless these dogs out once and for all when John says, "Get on your beds and lay down,"  in a very authoritative voice.  And what do you know.... they quite instantly!  Tex walked over to his "closet" bed and plopped down, and Marabelle walked over to her bed, pretty as you please, did a turn-about and plopped herself down too!
     Me and John laid there in the bed just laughing.  All the while John was teasing me that they don't take me seriously, and it takes a real man to bring peace into the house, etc.  
     Anyhow, I found myself laughing about it on the way home from work the next day and decided to share.  I hope you found laughter in it as I did.