A midnight feast is a fantasy my girls sometimes giggle about. “Let’s meet downstairs later for a midnight feast.”

Tonight, a “Mimi Monday,” the two older girls are sleeping at my parents house. Mimi Mondays allow for sleeping in an extra hour on a school night…and maybe extra dessert and a later bedtime.

Rose has been clingy. The transition from summer to first grade has been emotional. Today, she cried when it was time for the first ballet class of the new season. At six, she’s a seasoned dancer entering her fourth year.

Rose has been opting for sleeping in her own bed on Mimi Mondays.

Tonight, I came downstairs from my shower. “Is she sleeping?” I asked as I studied Rose’s relaxed body on the couch, waiting for her face to contort into a grin. She was sound asleep. We left her there until after 9, when she awoke on her own a bit dazed.

Arnauld carried her upstairs to get ready for bed but she re-emerged moments later declaring she wasn’t ready for bed. Our girls are accustomed to a snack before bed and I figured that’s what Rose wanted. When I asked if she was hungry she said no and moments later, as I ushered her to bed, she was sobbing about not wanting to go to bed. “As soon as she hits her pillow, she’ll go back to sleep,” I thought.

As Rose lay crying on her bed through me reading The Napping House and an entire Annie and Snowball book, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next.

That’s when Rose exclaimed, “I’m hungry.”

“How about a midnight feast?” I asked hoping a little silliness could turn the night around, despite the fact that is was nowhere close to midnight. “We can sneak downstairs and get a little snack.”

The tears stopped and soon, we were tiptoeing down the stairs by the light of my phone’s flashlight. We scoured the pantry before deciding on a homemade chocolate chip cookie baked by Wren.

When Rose climbed back into bed, calm and finally ready for sleep, I whispered in her ear, “that was a good midnight feast…don’t tell your sisters.”