Once upon a time, for years and years in fact, I slept naked. But shortly before I was due to give birth to the child who is now about to turn eight, it occurred to me that I might want to own a nightgown so that I wouldn't be freezing when up in the middle of the night with a nursing baby. So I bought a nightgown. I got a nice cotton nightgown from Hanna Andersson, with buttons down almost to the waist. It wasn't intended as a nursing gown, but it worked perfectly.
Eight years later, and some other nightgowns in the arsenal, because I have an occasional prudishness about sleeping naked when the child comes climbing in so often, the original nightgown is threadbare. The right elbow is worn through, there are pinpoint holes here and there, and the band of one cuff is about two-thirds off. It's time. So I bought a new one - almost the same, but longer, with different stripes. And I packed the old one and took it to Cape Cod, thinking instead of vacation underwear, it could be vacation nightgown, and I'd just leave it hanging on the line at the rented house.
The girl stopped me as I headed out with the clothes pins. "But Mama, you have to keep it!" She knows I bought it right before I had her, she knows I nursed her in it. She knows, and so I packed it again.
Maybe I'll bronze it.
Well, that's adorable!
ReplyDeleteI have always said one of the things I miss most about my former child-free life is sleeping naked. Nine years in PJs and nightgowns and I've almost forgotten how delicious that is.
ReplyDeleteI find it heartbreaking when my most comfortable pajamas go from threadbare to non-existent - I wear them up to the last possible second. On our cruise, I accidentally packed all my pajamas and my suitcases were taken and I had to sleep naked the last night and I HATED it. I really have to get back in touch with my body.
ReplyDeleteMake her a pillow?
ReplyDeleteI love the pillow idea!
ReplyDeletei love this story. it's slightly too much information, but it's also just right. and it makes me want a nightgown instead of the cruddy old gap t-shirt i use to sleep in...
ReplyDeleteI have never slept naked, maybe napped shortly after exerting myself (ahem), but never purposefully or overnight. What if there is a fire?! I sleep mostly in oversized t-shirts...and socks. I can't sleep without socks.
ReplyDeleteThis was a sweet little story. I have a t-shirt at the back of my closet that has a big 83 on it (my birth year) that I wore often while pregnant with BubTar (and for a while after). I intend to pass it down to him one of these days.