February 1: Spit, Pillow, and Sleeping Kids

Anyway, I went into D.B.'s room quiet as hell, and turned on the lamp on the desk.  Old Phoebe didn't even wake up.  When the light was on and all, I sort of looked at her for a while.  She was laying there asleep, with her face sort of on the side of the pillow.  She had her mouth way open.  It's funny.  You take adults, they look lousy when they're asleep and they have their mouths way open, but kids don't.  Kids look all right.  They can even have spit all over the pillow and they still look all right.

On this P.O.E.T.S. Day, Holden is with his sister Phoebe.  He sneaked home and is in Phoebe's room.  It brings him peace, probably for the first time in the entire novel.  He's not drinking or lying to some stranger.  He's simply watching his little sister sleep.  It's a quiet moment in Holden's turbulent breakdown.

I agree with Holden about sleeping kids.  Some nights, I stand by my son's bed, and I just watch him breathe.  He usually sleeps on his back, with his mouth open, arms splayed above his head.  Every once in a while, he'll mutter something as he exhales.  I usually can't understand the words.  Last night, he said something like, "Top duh dino bleak unner slip."  He's not thrashing around in a nightmare.  He's having a conversation with someone or something, a dream friend.  He's safe and calm.

I feel the same peace watching my daughter, as well.  She's twelve and, like her brother, sleeps with her mouth open.  She wears a sleeping mask, something she bought in Appleton, Wisconsin, on a school field trip.  It has the face of a Teddy Bear, with nubby brown fur and eyes with long eyelashes.  Since she was a young girl, she's ground her teeth while she sleeps.  Most of the time, there's a little trickle of saliva sliding down her cheek.  But, like Holden says, kids look all right even with spit all over their pillows.

I believe it has something to do with innocence.  Kids don't have adult worries.  They're untouched.  Sure, my daughter may have quizzes to take and tests to study for, but when she sleeps, she doesn't have the restless mind energy of adults.  Like my son, she's safe and calm.

That's why Holden watches Phoebe asleep.  That's why I kneel by my kids' beds and watch them sleep.  It's all about the quiet assurance of childhood.  When you go to bed at night, you know there will be a bowl of Rice Krispies waiting for you in the morning, with Curious George on the TV.

As Saint Marty's son wisely said, "Top duh dino bleak unner slip."  Those are words to live by.

Let sleeping kids lie...