Calvin's tent

And it might not be with you think. Over the last two months, my little Calvin (um, not so little anymore though) has made my mornings miserable. He has been consistently climbing out of his crib every morning around 6 am and walks into our room and asks for his little meow, blankie and pacifier. When he found his new freedom he did it every single time he couldn't find them in the dark, so most mornings I would get woken up way too early and he would get out of his crib a number of times after I'd put him back in and tell him to go back to sleep. Nothing was working. A few times I spanked him but he didn't seem to respond to that very well either. Mornings became a time of dread and much frustration. Sooo.....I resorted to caging him in. I was so desperate to find something that worked, I was willing to try anything. I got him a crib tent (I searched the market, there really is only one out there), ordered it, and paid for the quick shipping. I got it in two days! It took Rachel and I about a half hour to install it. It totally works, and I love it. This morning I slept in til until a lovely 7:40 when Violet woke up (she is easy in the mornings, she doesn't wander around and do dangerous things like Calvin does) so I took a shower, got ready (she played with her doll house in her room under strict orders to not go in Calvin's room), and then went into Calvin's room to get him out of bed when I was ready about 15-20 minutes later. It was soooo nice. He was ready to get out of bed, but he wasn't crying or anything. He was just standing there in silence waiting for me. I got him out and said "Calvin, do you like your new tent?" He enthusiastically said "Yeeeeah!" So its a good thing. I never would have thought I'd do this in the past...just seems so "silly" to "cage" in my kid, but its working, and I really like it so far. When he is older things will change of course, but for now, it is the perfect thing. There is no possible way he could get out of it. There is an inside netting that completely wraps underneath the mattress and connects to the dome top and when the zipper is shut the pull tab gets tucked into an outside pocket. The only thing it makes more difficult is changing his crib sheet, but its still possible.