This morning the Monkey came in my room. It’s been weeks since he’s woken up from disrupted sleep for any reason. Since making changes to his meds for his allergies, the kid sleeps like a champ. Like he never had issues ever.

The joy that this brings me is overwhelming. A parent with a child with asthma or allergy induced asthma knows the struggles one that is on several meds or jumping from one to another. And any single parent knows how hard it is to navigate those issues on your own, when you have to be up for work and ready to roll at a decent hour.

There were nights I didn’t get to sleep more than six hours a night. Then when the Monkey started school it was obvious he was having some serious off days. After exploring every option possible, it was brought to my attention that the meds he was on were most likely causing some serious disturbances in the force. So off of them seemed like the best thing to do. Every day we read about how meds cause issues for kids and I always thought that was the kind of stuff that happened to other people. So not true.

The Monkey has been a killer sleeper for the last few weeks. So last night when I heard the muffled chatter from next to my bed I realized something was going on that I had never experienced. The Boyfriend was helping the Monkey get back to bed. Never has any man uttered words so sweet to me as to tell me to go ahead and go back to sleep. While it was short-lived since the Monkey was showing the beginning signs of a chest cold, it was the most amazing gesture. But, the thing that was so wonderful was that the two men in my life have become so close that they can work together when Mama’s needs a few minutes of peace.

While this may seem like such an uber tiny thing with little significance for me who is used to only getting that kind of help from my family this means the universe.

When the Monkey was a baby I thought about what it might be like to have actually had help from his Bio. Then, I reminded myself always of what it was like when we first brought Monkey home. My Mom and Dad were amazing helping me when he was sick and when I needed a moment to regroup and when I started working. When we moved out on our own it was different. Just us when things went wrong late in the night. Just me and Monkey drudging through the events of colds and fevers and stomach flu grossness. But last night I got a taste of what it’s like to have someone care and be there. Someone who isn’t related to us but chooses to be here.

This life has been challenging and I have a feeling it won’t let up at all but damn it feels good to be a gangster. To wake up next to a man who is here and wants to be a part of all of this and everything that comes with it…now that is full of awesome.