Yesterday I cleaned out the garage, a project long overdue. It was Labor Day and, well, I guess it was a good day to labor. To be able to clean and organize effectively, I had to take everything out of the garage and place them in sorted piles on the driveway — bikes in one area, lawn equipment in another, toys and the such in another. This last “and the such” pile included a simple one or two person tent that was a gift to my son Micah last year. I brought it out of the garage and the neighbor kids instantly wanted to play in it with him.
They were all very happy to have it to aid with their imaginative games of house, and restaurant, and construction site, and car wash. They had me clean out the spider webs that had been made in it as it sat in our garage. While I cleaned, they played their hearts out, Micah taking breaks to help me clean up a pile of leaves or the spilled bag of bird food that some critter had gotten into at some point in the last couple months.
It wasn’t too long after bringing the tent outside that Micah informed me that he had decided that he was going to use it to sleep in the backyard that night. His rationales were solid: he’s always wanted to and never has, it was going to be nice outside that night, there were no threats of storms, and he and his brother didn’t have school the next day because it was a teacher work day.
I consented.
Come nightfall Micah had successfully recruited his brother into his plan, and had also informed my wife of the plan. They carted a bunch of their blankets and pillows to the tent in the backyard and got their bed situation all set up: pillows, comforters, a fan, a night light, an extra LED lantern, a portable clock. They were set and ready for their night in the back yard.
Every night before bed my wife Sarah and I take turns reading to them (a delight!), and right now the boys and I are working through Island of the Blue Dolphins. My son Ezra was insistent that even though we were outside that I needed to read the next chapter before they would be able to go to sleep. So with my friend Dennis, who is still visiting us from Arizona after last week’s annual trip to the Rockies (delight!), who the boys affectionately call Uncle Dennis, shining the light from his phone over my shoulder, I began reading the next chapter to them. A couple times while reading Micah started to waiver in his decision to sleep outside. But Ezra chimed in swiftly with some brotherly encouragement. He told his brother to stick it through with him, that they could do it. I encouraged them both as well, and continued to read.
Micah interrupted me once more but was convinced to stick it through. I finished the chapter and told the boys that I was going to go on a run with Uncle Dennis and then come back and check on them. I headed inside and told my wife that I’d be surprised if they made it 45 minutes. I assumed the boys didn’t have the bravery to stick it through the night.
I remember attempting to spend the night in my backyard when I was about their age. We set up the family tent in the backyard and I got my whole area set up, not so different from them. But with a couple instances of sirens, and some rustlings of unknown origins in the bushes nearby, I bailed pretty quickly.
I assumed the same would be true for my boys.
Dennis and I jogged a 5k together (delight!) around the village in one of my normal 1-mile loop routes. After finishing the run, I came inside and found Ezra sitting on the couch. He had thrown in the towel because he couldn’t get to sleep quickly enough, and he didn’t like that his feet were higher up than his head. I explained that he could move in a different position if he’d be more comfortable that way, and that it would likely take just a bit longer to fall asleep because he was in a tent rather than his bed.
I also explained that this would be a good way to prep himself for Scouts, which we had just signed him up for a couple days prior. He considered this and was convinced to go back outside to the tent and give it another try. He got his comforter, the night light he took from his brother who was still in the tent, and headed back.
I wished him a good sleep, and figured I’d see him again sometime before I was in bed myself. But he did not come back into the house until a little before 7am the next morning. He made it through the entire night along with his brother. Incredible! This morning I felt an interesting sense of pride about this.
Sarah told me she called campus security to let them know our boys were spending the night in a tent in our backyard, and she said the dispatch woman responded with, “Awwwww! That’s soooo cute!” She told Sarah they’d have security drive around a couple times to make sure things were good with them.
While I slept, I had wild and vicious dreams of storms and tornadoes. I remember one dream in which I was a child, maybe a teenager, alone in my childhood home. A huge storm was bending the trees sideways in my front yard, large branches falling everywhere, shingles being ripped off the roofs of houses across the street. I felt the air along my bare ankles rush past and out of the crack of the doors. The floor shook, it vibrated violently, and the wind blew so strong that it completely knocked over my house like a Monopoly house flipped onto its side. I woke up confused, wondering if it was storming outside. It wasn’t. And so I wondered why my dreams had been so vivid, so anxiety-ridden. Then I suddenly remembered my boys were still outside in their tent, and I had not heard anything from them the entire night. It was kind of hard for me to believe. It was 4:45am.
I started wondering if they were ok. It was fairly chilly outside, around 52 degrees, and I started worrying if they had enough blankets or comforters, if they were warm enough. It reminded me of when they were babies and how if they slept in even a few minutes longer than normal my mind would rush to thoughts like Oh no! Are they still breathing?! And What if they got tangled up in their bed somehow and are stuck or strangled?! This time it was What if they’ve died of hypothermia in their sleep?!
They were fine, of course. In fact, they reported that the temperature was quite pleasant out and that they were very comfortable cocooned in all their blankets and comforters.
Micah was particularly proud of himself when he came inside and marched into our bedroom to exclaim that he slept the entire night outside without issue. After being praised by Sarah and me, he said he’d let us sleep, and quietly closed our bedroom door. I went back to sleep for a little while longer, this time with ease, and with a sense of relief and delight.
Stepping Back 