Sweet Dreams & Sugarplums

My house has rules about Christmas music.  If you have read the blog for a while you have probably read that my youngest, Matthew, enjoys listening to Christmas music at bedtime, pretty much right after Halloween.  His brother Paul stoutly refuses to engage or encourage that behavior until the day after Thankgiving.  Even though they have their own rooms, they can hear the music they play at bedtime, so it can be something of an issue.

This year, for various reasons, from the lingering effects of some unauthorized internet research on Jeff the Killer, to some hero worship of an older brother, my Matthew has moved his bed into the large walk in closet in my Paul’s room.  The situation has worked out pretty well.  It has eliminated the nightmares, (because who doesn’t feel safe with a 6’2 260lb defensive lineman sleeping within shouting distance?).  My Paul likes it because no nightmares means no one waking him up and trying to get into his bed at 3am.  It also means that my Matthew’s real bedroom stays pretty tidy, which is a bonus for me.

The problem is that this year, right after Halloween Matthew wanted to listen to Christmas music at bedtime.  Paul absolutely refused to allow that nonsense in his room.  They listen to different things, but lately it has been ‘fields of gold’ performed by Two Cellos on an endless looping repeat.  I am a fan, but just one song all night long?  Yeah I don’t get it either, but they agree on it so. . .

In any case, a few weeks before Thanksgiving Paul was up late working on homework and Matthew had gone to bed, since he was alone in the room he had put it on Enya’s ‘And Winter Came. . .’ album and was just about asleep when Paul came in the room and turned it off.  There was a loud and animated conversation that followed that left both of them frustrated and unfortunately wide awake.

A few days later Matthew had a rough day at school followed by an unapproved excursion to Starbucks that got him, and his buddy Jaden in trouble with all the parental units involved. He pretty much refused to eat dinner and put himself to bed unprompted because “IT WAS THE WORST DAY EVER”.

I went in and tucked him in and turned off the lights but he was still pretty upset.  Paul was wandering around upstairs and then came downstairs and let us know that he had calmed his brother down and tucked him in.  Paul also informed us that had put on Enya’s Christmas album for his brother to help him sleep.  Even though it broke his rules, sometimes you have to make an exception for brothers.

Now I am a good brother, ask my siblings, but I am certain that no one has a brother that looks after them the way my Paul looks after my Matthew.