Conversations at night

It's 3 am. The house is quiet. It is nice and dark, except for the blue lights on the computer router that cast weird shadows in the office. The dishwasher has long stopped running. Do you know where your child is? I know where mine is. He is right beside my bed. And he wants to talk.

Him: Mommy, I can't find my cat Stripe.
Me: (Instantly awake.) OK. Let's go back to your room and find it. (We shuffle off to his room where I start searching his bed in the darkness.)
Him: Maybe you should turn the light on.
Me: No, that would be bad. It's late. The dark is good.
Him: Well, if you turned on the light you could see that I am holding Stripe.
Me: ....
Him: See? (Holds up cat in the dark.)
Me: You had Stripe the whole time?
Him: Yes. I just wanted you and this way we could talk and it is good to talk.
Me: ....

I get him back in bed and remind him that he sleeps in his bed and mommy sleeps in hers, and that everyone sleeps at night and talking is for daytime. As I wander back to my room I can't help but wonder: Was that really sweet? Or is my child diabolical? I mean, he came into my room to wake me up to find his cat, but he knew that he had the cat the whole time.

Then I remember that he is three, so of course he is both diabolical and sweet - that is how three-year-olds work. But, in the morning (the actual time-to-be-awake morning) as I recount the episode to my husband, I wonder about light sleepers and heavy sleepers. My husband can sleep through a fire alarm; I wake at the slightest noise. Evidently, our brains are different.

And, I bet our son knows that. Which is why he only comes in our room to wake me up at night.

So, sorry, Mom, for all the times I woke you up in the middle of the night for no discernible reason.

How about your family? What middle-of-the-night conversations have you had with your children? Are you a light sleeper or did you turn into one when you became a mom?