I will start this by saying, I am well aware of how blessed we are. I have never wanted anything more than to be a mother. I look through images of our day at night for roughly 5 minutes when everyone pretends to be asleep and marvel at how amazing this life is we are living (one of the many reasons i need photography <–you can read about them here). Then I realize they’re out to get me….
Seriously. They’re out to get me. They’re in cahoots, and to be honest, I don’t even think they realize they’re working together. They just know what to do and they do it. When one of them is on track, another one is off. I haven’t slept in 12 years.
12 long years.
There is a sleeping bag on the floor of my room because after years of one of my wild things sleeping with myself or b, we finally told him it was time for him to sleep in his own bed- alone. Even then, the only way he would sleep in his bed was if we offered him the option of coming down to sleep on the floor of our room with a sleeping bag if he needed to. The sleeping bag stays in our room, on the floor, every night because the minute we put it away, this particular wild thing comes downstairs to sleep on our floor. He knows.
3 out of 4 of our children go to sleep every night.
That’s it.
One of my children is up every single night.
Every. Single. Night.
They’re out to get me.
There was a point in the last 12 years when all seemed right in our world, and then one of the wild things decided to wet through his diaper.
Every. Single. Night.
While he slept in bed with us.
Every. Single. Night.
It’s something special to wake up in a puddle of someone else’s pee. If you haven’t experienced it, you’re surely missing out.
3 out of 4 of my wild things are doing an amazing job of sleeping these days. they go to bed without issue, they stay in their beds (even if we do have to keep a sleeping bag on the floor of our room), they are dry all night.
One has decided he can’t sleep. He gets up every 3 minutes and finds something to complain about. A reason he absolutely cannot sleep.
Here is a replay of last night…
It’s so hot in there…
I need new bed sheets…
I just had to pee… again…
I decided to take my shirt off…
Can you tuck me in?…
I fell asleep (for 5 minutes), can you tuck me in again?…
You didn’t do anything, can you tuck me in again?…
What time is it?…
I opened my window… can you tuck me in?…
I rolled over… can you tuck me in?…
Last night, you only tucked me in once… can you tuck me in again?…
Can you put daisy in my room?….
Daisy doesn’t want to be in my room…. can you tuck me in again?….
The fan is blowing on me… can you tuck me in again?….
It’s so hot in my room… what should i do?…
I’m going to bed now…can you tuck me in again?…
I need sleep.
And coffee. Lots of coffee.
Are your wild things out to get you too?? Please tell me I’m not alone (because I don’t know if I can handle hearing your kids sleep soundly all night)!!
Come hang out with me!!
Mine does; I find that sticking to a schedule really works for us.
One Awesome Momma
So grateful all my kids slept and slept well. They woke up at the crack of dawn but I could deal as long as they stayed in their beds and I could sleep in mine.
Oh man. We thought we were amazing parents and other parents didn’t know what they were doing with our first. He slept in 6 hour stretches at 8 weeks and 12 hours by 3 months. And then, our youngest humbled us. We haven’t slept well in 3 years and there is no end in sight. Same genetics. Same parenting. He showed us!