in which my rock-n-roll lifestyle finally catches up with me
Happy day after the day after Mother's Day! I didn't mean to leave Caitlin Flanagan up there for so long, but I kind of lost track of time. How on earth did it get to be TUESDAY already? And where have I been for the last four days?
I'll tell you where: NOT SLEEPING. That's where.
My children seem to have entered into some sort of conspiracy whereby only ONE of them sleeps through the night, while the other comes in at 3:00 am to request that I snuggle. "Snuggle" is, of course, code for "let me kick you repeatedly for the next hour or three while you smash into my teeny weeny little bed." It's killing me, it really is.
The deal is this: last Wednesday, Henry was getting sick and was up all night; Thursday everyone slept all night in their own beds. Friday night, Charlie came in at 3:30 and climbed into the big bed next to me; we don't typically let the boys sleep in our bed, but I wasn't sure that Charlie wasn't sick, too, and it seemed easier to let him stay in my bed (which is a king) than it would be to get in HIS bed (a twin). And no he's not sick but MY GOD does he snore. And when he's not snoring he's sucking his thumb, which is totally noisy.
Saturday night we had dinner with some friends who live in Norman, which is a bit of a drive from here, and so we didn't get home until nearly 9:00 (okay, and we were also slurping margaritas while the kids all played nicely in the upstairs playroom, which really took away any incentive to leave earlier). The five of you who know me for real will understand how crazy it is that my kids were STILL UP at 9:30 on a Saturday night; the rest of you should know that lights out Chez Friday Playdate is always no later than 8:00 pm, and usually closer to 7:30. At 3:00 am, Henry came in and announced that he was afraid of the dark, so I got in bed with him and was awake until 5:00 or so. He went to sleep, I went back to bed until 8:00 and he slept until 9:00.
Sunday night both kids were asleep at 7:15. Not just in bed, but ASLEEP. There was much rejoicing. There was also much discussion of the fact that Henry had not had his Focalin that day, and much deciding that the two things were probably NOT related.
Yesterday, Henry had his meds. Charlie took a nap at school, which he NEVER does, thus confirming the theory that the boys were tired from the weekend. Bedtime went on forEVER last night, and included a long stretch in which Charlie lay under the ottoman (or "otto-MINT" as he likes to say) in our family room, sucking his thumb and watching Wade work, so once again the boys were awake late. Everyone finally fell asleep around 9:00 and slept right through until 2:30, when Henry came to get me up. This morning I feel like my eyelids are made of paper mache. I may die before lunchtime. Seriously.
Oh, and! yesterday was the last day of Everyone In School At the Same Time until school starts in the fall! I spent the morning editing this post to submit for a book on special needs kids and shopping for flip flops at JCrew (big sale!). Last night, just as I was starting to think OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE THIS SUMMER, my friend Caroline called to say that she has quit her job because she so desperately missed playing with me (no, that's not really why she quit, but not working WILL free up more time for us to play). We have a playdate next Friday, her first work-free day, and I can't wait--although I may not live that long unless people here start sleeping.
That is all. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about how I've been beautifying myself with various peroxide-based products! I know you can't wait.
I'll tell you where: NOT SLEEPING. That's where.
My children seem to have entered into some sort of conspiracy whereby only ONE of them sleeps through the night, while the other comes in at 3:00 am to request that I snuggle. "Snuggle" is, of course, code for "let me kick you repeatedly for the next hour or three while you smash into my teeny weeny little bed." It's killing me, it really is.
The deal is this: last Wednesday, Henry was getting sick and was up all night; Thursday everyone slept all night in their own beds. Friday night, Charlie came in at 3:30 and climbed into the big bed next to me; we don't typically let the boys sleep in our bed, but I wasn't sure that Charlie wasn't sick, too, and it seemed easier to let him stay in my bed (which is a king) than it would be to get in HIS bed (a twin). And no he's not sick but MY GOD does he snore. And when he's not snoring he's sucking his thumb, which is totally noisy.
Saturday night we had dinner with some friends who live in Norman, which is a bit of a drive from here, and so we didn't get home until nearly 9:00 (okay, and we were also slurping margaritas while the kids all played nicely in the upstairs playroom, which really took away any incentive to leave earlier). The five of you who know me for real will understand how crazy it is that my kids were STILL UP at 9:30 on a Saturday night; the rest of you should know that lights out Chez Friday Playdate is always no later than 8:00 pm, and usually closer to 7:30. At 3:00 am, Henry came in and announced that he was afraid of the dark, so I got in bed with him and was awake until 5:00 or so. He went to sleep, I went back to bed until 8:00 and he slept until 9:00.
Sunday night both kids were asleep at 7:15. Not just in bed, but ASLEEP. There was much rejoicing. There was also much discussion of the fact that Henry had not had his Focalin that day, and much deciding that the two things were probably NOT related.
Yesterday, Henry had his meds. Charlie took a nap at school, which he NEVER does, thus confirming the theory that the boys were tired from the weekend. Bedtime went on forEVER last night, and included a long stretch in which Charlie lay under the ottoman (or "otto-MINT" as he likes to say) in our family room, sucking his thumb and watching Wade work, so once again the boys were awake late. Everyone finally fell asleep around 9:00 and slept right through until 2:30, when Henry came to get me up. This morning I feel like my eyelids are made of paper mache. I may die before lunchtime. Seriously.
Oh, and! yesterday was the last day of Everyone In School At the Same Time until school starts in the fall! I spent the morning editing this post to submit for a book on special needs kids and shopping for flip flops at JCrew (big sale!). Last night, just as I was starting to think OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE THIS SUMMER, my friend Caroline called to say that she has quit her job because she so desperately missed playing with me (no, that's not really why she quit, but not working WILL free up more time for us to play). We have a playdate next Friday, her first work-free day, and I can't wait--although I may not live that long unless people here start sleeping.
That is all. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about how I've been beautifying myself with various peroxide-based products! I know you can't wait.
12 Comments:
There's the sleeplessness of young motherhood (that's yours), then there are a few blissful years of sleep, glorious sleep, and then you enter the sleeplessness of pre-menopause.(That's mine.) Woo.Hoo.
One of these days, we'll both log in at 3 a.m., just for something to do, and bump into each other!
Oh. I will. You'll be too busy being pummelled by the whirling feet of the thumb-sucking snore machine.
Poor you! (Been there, done that, got th bruises.)
Whew, that was exhausting! I'm just glad you found the time to fit me in. ;)
No strep throat so far, but the girl dying from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever had me checking Dr. Google about the bumps on her arms which are really nothing more than your run-of-the-mill mosquito bites.
Sleep? What is that? My 3, almost 4 month old sees to it that I never sleep through the night. But when I see her smiling face, it is worth it. See you in Zombieland.
I am so glad to know that ours is not the only household where normal bedtime is 7:30 or earlier. We've actually been closer to 6:45 for the past few days.
And I am so sorry about the lack of nightime sleep. You have my sympathies. It makes everything so much less tolerable.
Many wishes for a full night's sleep tonight.
You know I'm always amazed when you say you can get your boys to bed as early as 7:30. It's not even dark out at 7:30 and I have a tough time getting both mine into bed at 9:00 pm.
I'm so jealous of families with earlier bedtimes. Our kids go to bed at 9 p.m., which KILLS me, but if they didn't stay up late they'd go days without seeing their dad, so we suck it up.
I'm glad to hear you submitted that post, because I really liked it when I first read it. Many people don't understand that being "smart" isn't in and of itself the answer to a child's success.
I've been noticing how OLD I look lately, and I swear it's the twins fault. They still. get. up.
Off to JCrew, thank you very much.
I've been noticing how OLD I look lately, and I swear it's the twins fault. They still. get. up.
Hausfrau's daughter is doing it, too, so she and I have decided to log on when we get up, on the off chance that we're both be up at the same time. Venting is good at 3 am.
Off to JCrew, thank you very much.
Hope you get more sleep soon. I agree with Mary P - I felt like I went from little kids sleeping through the night (which S did at age 7) to not sleeping because of hot flashes and night sweats. Hopefully you have a long time before that happens! And many more shoe shopping trips along the way!
Also? Because of you I just purchased my first margarita glasses - durable plastic with tiny little pink flamingos on them. There is no way those suckers are going to break! Hee.
God, I got exhausted just reading that. We've got it easy (in bed by 8, up at 8) but methinks those days are numbered. And the sort of shopping necessary to perk me up involves high-end electronics we can't afford, which I would stay up all night playing with, so there's really no winning...
Croutonboy, my husband just bought a new stereo, for his "office" (riiight . . . ). He's also been talking about an iMac, because we really NEED another desktop computer. Oh, and he needs a new iPod, too, because the technology is moving so fast that the one he bought last summer is already an antique.
This is clearly taking its toll on BOTH of us.
I recently decided that I was getting entirely too much uninterupted, peaceful sleep and got a puppy. It's very similar to having a naked toddler running around the house... a toddler with a penchant for teething on the legs of my kitchen chairs with pointy little teeth.
Susan, how about a nice turkey dinner for everyone? What's the stuff in it that makes you drowsy... Tryptophan or something?
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home