We tiptoe silently across the floor

Ever watchful of the sounds we make

Ever hopeful that they will stay asleep

Just a few moments more

Or hours so we can rest

While their head rests steady on their pillow

We peek in to check on their breathing

And slowly slink away

We will cause damage to anything

That makes too loud a noise

And wakes our slumbering child

Prematurely

Or at all

We will call out the huge

Mama Bear

That lives inside

To anyone who decides

To throw a party, make a bang

That fireworks should remain

Going off after our child

Has gone to sleep.

We will drive for miles to keep them

Sleeping in their car seat

Even past the point where we too need to sleep

We will stand and hold them

Rocking

Rocking

Afraid to stop moving because they will wake

Even when they are older

And sleeping when we need them up

So we yell up the stairs

Or outside their doors

Reminding them that it is in fact time to get up

There is a part of us

That needs the quiet

That wishes we could let them sleep

That feels relief knowing that our

Watch is on pause

That we are keeping them safe

And alive

But that we don’t actually have to engage

With or worry about

Them

Because they are asleep

And when they sleep we can relax

In a deeper level than we could

When they were awake

And maybe just maybe

If we time it right

We can also get some sleep in

While they are sleeping

Or some reading

Or just sitting and breathing

In the fact that

They are asleep

And we are now finally

Mostly

Off duty.