This past week has been one in which the sleep gods have not been kind to our family… Billy has taken to waking up twice a night. This does not please me, as he won’t settle down without a bottle, and you’d think at 16 months, he’d get his act together! This is the kid that slept great as a newborn, but then at about 4 months, decided to give me all the sleeplessness he’d initially spared me…
And Helen… My sweet Helen. Every night this week, she has gotten up in the middle of the night. And the routine is always the same. She wakes up and stumbles out of bed, fumbles for the door knob, opens the door, then promptly slams it shut behind her. Thud thud thudding down the hallway to our bedroom she then fumbles with our doorknob before slamming it shut. (Did I mention that we live in an old bungalow with hardwood, so it all echoes!) Up into our bed she goes, fidgeting, talking, pulling my hair, kicking off the covers before finally settling down in between us with her head crammed into my armpit, laying horizontally with her feet right in daddy’s lap, or as he likes to say, precariously close to the ‘boys’. My husband and I end up dangerously close to the edges of the bed, freezing, while she lies comfortably in the middle. I knew we should have got a king size bed! The routine is usually repeated at least once, about 30 minutes after I get fed up and take her back to bed!
Ever notice that when you wake up at 3 am, not only can you forget about getting back to sleep anytime soon, but your mind plays tricks on you? I lie in bed with my brain whirling at mach 5. First I think about the mundane things – things I have to try, things I have to make, people I should call, etc. Eventually, I get to thinking about my problems, and then in a flash of sleep deprived clarity, I suddenly have all these great solutions! I get very excited about my new solutions. Small issues like money are gone with the realization that I should just buy a winning lotto ticket. Money problems solved! That large scratch on the truck can be repaired with tempera paints and some lacquer. Excellent! And those last 10 pounds that won’t go away will be gone in a few days if I just don’t eat anything! Inspired! Sure enough, I eventually fall asleep and the next morning all this fabulous insight is gone in a daze of exhaustion. It’s probably for the best…
Wishing you all sweet uninterrupted dreams! (And winning lotto tix!)
Voula
