Breaking Rules

Sometimes I think I'm too much of a rule follower. Especially the self-imposed kind. 

My husband is about to leave on a two day business trip. He doesn't travel often. In fact the last time was sometime last summer. I know this because I lost all sense of reason and let my twin girls sleep in my room with me while he was away. I would never have done that during the school year. That's one of my rules. Everyone needs a good night's sleep on school nights. The girls must have forgotten this rule because the minute we announced Dad was going out of town this week, they simultaneously yelled, "Slumber party!"

I told them no. 
They were not pleased. 
So I set out to convince myself that my reasoning was sound. 

He'll be gone on two school nights (for goodness sake.) The girls won't sleep well, because I often sleep with the TV on when Dax is gone. I won't sleep well, because they toss and turn and make lots of noise. I get up super early...way before they want to get up. Then they'll be up, cross at me, and I won't even get my 30 minutes of morning alone time. None of us will be well-rested which will make for a stressful day. We will come home in the afternoon moody and grumpy...with no Dad to calm the nerves of 3 over-tired females. And besides, we don't let the girls sleep in our room. It's the one parenting promise we haven't broken...no kids in bed with us! 

But then I got to thinking. Why all the rules? My nearly 12-year-old daughters still want to hang out with me and have a sleepover. How much longer until that's not fun for them anymore? How long will it be before they are staying up later than me doing homework, chatting with friends, or working part-time jobs?

I'm a rule follower, but maybe I need to bend a little on the self-imposed kind. Maybe a couple of nights of marginal sleep will be worth the girls feeling safe, and loved. Maybe I want them to have a memory that starts with, "When Dad would go out of town," and ends with, "We got some special time with mom." I think this might be the time to break my own rules. Shhh...it's a surprise.