When my three-year-old, Lily, cried about a monster under her bed, I thought it was just her imagination. But one night, I saw something move in her room, and what I discovered proved she was right. I\u2019m Rachel, a single mom in Brooklyn, and this is how a late-night scare brought a new member to our family. As a children\u2019s book writer, I often burned the midnight oil, sipping tea and wrestling with story ideas while my kids, Lily and seven-year-old Noah, slept. My nights were quiet, filled with the hum of my laptop and the glow of Manhattan\u2019s skyline. One night, struggling with writer\u2019s block, I moved to a different chair, hoping for inspiration. Around 2 a.m., I noticed a light flicker on in the kids\u2019 room. Knowing Lily had just learned to flip switches, I hurried to check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lily stood in her crib, arms outstretched, crying, \u201cMommy, someone\u2019s under my bed!\u201d I scooped her up, soothing her. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, sweetie. There\u2019s no monster.\u201d Since moving her to her own room, she\u2019d invented nightly excuses to sleep near me. I figured this was another. Noah slept soundly, clutching his toy car, unbothered. I told Lily a bedtime story about a brave princess, and she dozed off. \u201cI\u2019ll check on you soon,\u201d I whispered, kissing her forehead, and returned to my desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My writing flowed better, ideas sparking as I typed. I glanced at the kids\u2019 door, ensuring the light stayed off. Around 3:30 a.m., Lily\u2019s cries echoed again, unusual for her. As I approached, I saw a shadow dart under the door. My heart raced. Inside, Lily reached for me, lights off. Noah\u2019s blanket was on the floor, and odd rustling sounds came from somewhere. I flicked on the light, grabbed a broom, and peered under the bed, ready for anything. There, on a tattered blanket, was a tiny puppy, trembling and whimpering. Relief washed over me. \u201cLook, Lily, no scary monster\u2014just a cuddly one!\u201d I pulled out the pup, and Lily\u2019s fear turned to delight as she petted it. \u201cHow\u2019d you get here, little guy?\u201d she asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noah, now awake, avoided my gaze. I remembered him begging for a puppy after a local adoption event. I\u2019d said no pets until he was ten, but his guilty look told me he\u2019d snuck this one in. \u201cWas this you, Noah?\u201d I asked. He nodded, teary. I knelt beside him. \u201cHiding things isn\u2019t okay. You scared Lily.\u201d He hugged her, sobbing, \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d Lily grinned, \u201cIt\u2019s okay! Can he stay? I\u2019ll name him Snuggy!\u201d Noah looked hopeful. With his tenth birthday near and his love for the pup clear, I softened. \u201cAlright, Snuggy\u2019s family now.\u201d The kids cheered, hugging me as the puppy yipped. That night, I learned to trust Lily\u2019s words and bend rules with love, welcoming Snuggy into our home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When my three-year-old, Lily, cried about a monster under her bed, I thought it was just her imagination. But one night, I saw something move in her… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"views":425,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13378,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13376\/revisions\/13378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}