Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Not This Again : In Search of Sleep

When asked what my daugthers do well the first thing I tend to answer is "sleep". My husband always rolls his eyes at this but really I think it is pretty impressive. They were going down at seven every night and not waking up until seven thirty most mornings. And still taking a two hour nap most days.

Notice I said were. Lately the naps have been few and far between for Miss Calamity Jane. Occasionally she crashes out but usually she plays and continually opens the door and slams it when she sees me. (Desmonda Drama naps in a pack and play in the guest room, for two hours still. Guess who is moving up the favorite child list?). And it's fine, she is three. I know a lot of kids stop napping around this time.

But this morning Calamity Jane strolled on in our room, naked, at six thirty in the morning. Oh hell no. THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

You see, I need my sleep. You may scoff at the validity of this but my body needs about nine hours a night. I can survive well on eight and just be slightly exhausted on seven but anything less than seven and I am a raging bitch from hell. I can't be held responsible for my actions.

So yeah, infant twins was just awesome for me. Especially since they weren't sleeping through the night until thirteen months. I gained back almost all the baby weight I had lost; I turned into a raving lunatic; I hated the world. It wasn't pretty. It's part of the reason i don't see us having another child unless said child comes with a sleeping through the night at six weeks guarantee.

This morning was a reminder of those insane days. I was so blurred and on edge. I found myself yelling at the girls and putting them in time out for things I would laugh off on another day. Though really girls every morning the toaster has to toast the bread, bread does not come out of the bag toasted as nice as that would be. screaming at me that you want toast is not going to change that fact.

When my husband came out of the room I told him that he was going to have to start getting up with the girls because I couldn't exist on this little sleep.

His suggestion was that I start going to bed earlier but I NEED those four hours between seven and eleven. It's when I clean the house up, readjust my stress levels, and get in my TV. Not to mention it's the only time I have with him. Something's got to give and it's not going to be me getting up before seven.

Now how to explain this concept to a three year old with s stubborn streak and limited verbal skills. That my friends, is the million dollar question.

6 comments:

  1. Did Ro secretly talk to the girls? Because she has been pulling this scheme for about three weeks now. Not fun! Especially the no nap thing. Getting up at 6:15-6:30 I can tolerate, but I need my mid-afternoon break! Here's to all of our kids sleeping habits improving soon.

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  2. I also need 8 or 9 hours of sleep each night. I *also* am trying to get my husband to get up some morning with E. Not going to happen though. I'm lucky that she sleeps in quite late for now...but I wish I had more "me" time at night. Bed time is a struggle even with one, I can't imagine it with two!

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  3. I get about 5 hours a night (well, day- since that's when i sleep) and it wears me down. Glad to know I'm not the only one who had twins who didn't STTN until 13 months. This next baby isn't going that long that's for sure. At least my husband gets to sleep!

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  4. Nothing is more pronounced as when it is heard or seen through the bleary-eyed. Here's hoping they get back to the routine soon.

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  5. I have been a raving bitch for 5 years. My kids routinely get up between 5:30 and 6:30. I don't think the 2 year old has ever slept until 7:30. You would think I would learn my lesson and go to bed at 8:30 myself, but I need my ME time too. Although my family might like me better if I gave up my me time for some early to bed sleep time.

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  6. My 12-year-old daughter can sleep with the best of them, but when it comes to me wanting to sleep--forget it. I'm off on Fridays and I woke her up this morning, made sure she was up and getting ready and went back to bed to try and crash. Most mornings when I get ready for work I hear about 4 words from her (most of them whiny). This morning? She would not shut up and almost every word was about something completely insignificant.

    Do I care that Sara is thinking about having peanut butter and blackberry jelly in her sandwich today? Absolutely not! But I heard about it twice.

    Jesus Christ...

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