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Written by Rowonna McNeely – A few nights ago, we were all tucked in bed asleep when suddenly an ear-piercing yell split the air. “NO!!” Kiera shouted. “I said no!!”

Aaron, thinking the worst, jumped out of bed and sprinted to Kiera’s room. As he entered her doorway, she yelled, “No Ziggy!! Get!!”

He leaned over the bed and questioned her, while glancing around the room, “What, baby? What’s wrong?

“Ziggy!” She yelled, never opening her eyes. “Ziggy is eating all of Sloane’s food and I told him no!”

Before he could reply, she rolled over and settled back to sleep. Walking back to our room, Aaron glanced in the living room, only to see Ziggy laying on the couch, ears cocked and eyebrows raised, presumably trying to figure out what he had done.

There is no doubt in our mind which parent she gets the talking in her sleep from.  That would be me. I can’t deny it. If I tried, Aaron would begin to regale you with story after story of things I had said to him while I was asleep.

Aaron’s absolute favorite story to tell on me goes back several years. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and burning music to a CD. Since it was late at night and I am such a night owl, I was sound asleep. At one point, I rolled over to face him, sat up and looked straight at him. Then I uttered the phrase he will never, ever let me forget.

“Purple alligators.” I said, before rolling back over and leaving my husband perplexed and rolling with laughter.

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Ten years later, he still loves to tell that story.

Last night, has to be one of my favorite episodes of Kiera talking in her sleep.  We had put her to bed a little earlier than normal due to her being so tired. Around 11:30 she came in and woke me up asking if I would take her to the bathroom. Once she was done in the bathroom, she asked for a cup of milk.

After drinking her milk, she scooted up against me and fell back asleep. I fought to stay awake in her bed, trying to give her a few minutes before I stealthily climbed out of her bed and made my way back to mine.

I lay in my bed for a few minutes, waiting to make sure that she was asleep before going back to sleep as well.  About thirty minutes later, I felt someone climbing up on my side of the bed. I pried my eyes open and Kiera halfway on the bed, wiggled into my arms.

She then stepped back as I started to get out bed. Grabbing my cellphone to use as a flashlight, I sleepily asked, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Can you help me find my banana?” She asked.

My sleep-addled mind was suddenly wide-awake. I blinked my eyes and stared at my child, making sure that I was not dreaming.

Nope. Not dreaming. She stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot, holding her Quack-Quack.  “Your…banana?” I hesitantly asked.

“Yes.” She responded, turning and walking back to her bedroom. I followed behind and watched her climb back in her bed. She pulled the covers up to her shoulders and began to roll over.

“Never mind. We can look for my banana tomorrow.” She said as she rolled to her stomach and softly snored.

I sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, patting her back and wondering what had just happened.

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and I guess in our case, it’s obvious that Kiera is going to be like me and talk in her sleep.

With the holidays, we have had a crazy couple of weeks and have not stuck to our normal routine. I think once we get back in our routine, hopefully, Kiera will rest a little better.  And we all know if she rests better, Mommy and Daddy will too.

Hopefully, tonight, there will be no lost bananas.

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Rowonna McNeely works with her husband, Aaron, at Willie’s T’s in the Art Department, regularly volunteers in the community, and has her hands full with her daughter, Kiera, along with two dogs and one cat.

Rowonna is a graduate of May High School (Go Tigers!) and grew up on a dairy farm. She enjoys reading, creating, swimming, and planning events. She’s also a bit of a klutz.

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