Mummy fail

'Come on, let's go and see how she's doing...'

I nodded and followed him into the baby's room, quietly slipping through the door and peeking over into her cot. She was breathing calmly and steadily, her body turned to one side and her bedtime rabbit clasped tightly in one fist. Her long lashed eyes were tightly shut and in the darkness we could just make out her rounded cheeks, lips slightly parted, a look of pure innocence on her sleeping face.

Marek smiled and turned to leave, but I couldn't resist a closer look. As I stepped towards her, she suddenly sighed, started and turned towards me. I couldn't see if her eyes had opened but I quickly slipped out, hoping she'd settle back without properly waking.

My plan didn't work. I heard a wimper, a little cry and then what sounded like a thumb being sucked, a rabbit pulled in closer and muffled sounds of an upset baby moving around trying to find a comfortable position in which to go back to sleep. I felt awful and debated the merits of going in and comforting her against the risks of waking her up more and making the whole situation worse.

While I was considering the pros and cons, the baby made the decision for me. The soft sounds of tinkly nursery rhymes reached me through the door. She had decided to soothe herself back to sleep with the help of her musical mobile. Clever girl.

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