I started the day with three hours of sleep. My furniture was rearranged. The contents of my cupboards were emptied out all over the counters of my kitchen. I felt that progress had been made in the wee hours of the morning even though my house looked as though it had been ransacked.
All day long I’ve wanted to fall on a couch, a chair or a piece of linoleum and crash like I’ve rarely crashed before in my life. My eyes are drooping, my yawns are huge and everything I hear sounds a bit garbley. But I’ve fought the exhaustion in an attempt to teach my body to shed its vampiric tendencies and start sleeping in the night and feeling wakeful during the day.
I hope it counts as being awake if you’re walking around in a stupor saying, “Wha-?” to your kids whenever they talk to you. Laylee finally grabbed my arm today and said, “You’re NOT LISTENING!” I was trying, really I was, but the flickering updates on Freecycle were mesmerizing and although they were almost too blurry to read, they were just blurry enough to keep my vague attention.
Laylee’s story about the precise rules for entrance to her cardboard swimming pool were not.
She has a cardboard swimming pool in the middle of the living room floor which she is using while she saves up her allowance for an in-ground pool. Yes, she is really saving up her $2/week to buy an in-ground pool for the backyard and I am not man enough to rain on that parade. I told her that if she saved enough money, I would let her install one.
From the other room this afternoon I could hear the kids pelting on each other, followed by a loud yell of, “Now I’m telling mom FOR REAL!”
“Oh GOSH!” I thought as I waited in the kitchen bracing myself to be “told FOR REAL!” And FOR REAL it was. Apparently MAGOO STARTED IT and then Laylee finished it and we began a fun-filled round of time out. They were seated a few feet apart with Laylee glaring and Magoo bawling. The indignity of sitting still against a wall is really unbearable for the little man.
Within a few seconds, they were giggling and whispering back and forth, an act of friendship and solidarity I pretended not to notice. When I was sure they had cooled off nicely, I went over and had them sit across from each other holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes.
“I want you to tell Magoo one thing you love about him.”
“Magoo. I love you because you sleep with me in my room and we have fun together and laugh when we’re supposed to be sleeping and play when we’re supposed to be sleeping and because you’re my best friend.”
“Now Magoo. What do you love about Laylee?”
“I love you because you sleep-ith me… and friends.”
Then they embraced, sealing their love with the promise to do many things together in joy and siblingly love while they were supposed to be sleeping.
Maybe I should wake Dan up next time I can’t sleep at 3am. From what the kids say, insomnia’s much more fun with two.
I don’t think I could wake my husband through his freight train snoring if I tried!
And that is so cute, “tell your brother one thing you love about him,” I’m going to have to try that out on the big boys. I’ll report back, after I get some sleep, that is.
Isn’t it heartwarming to learn your kids have forged a relationship through the bonds of disobedient togetherness? 🙂
According to Antique Mommy, you can work out or make a fool out of yourself at 2 am.
Not you personally. You in the general sense.
I am so with you on the Freecycle thing. I was on there this weekend, giving away my baby swing, and saw a post from someone who was offering half a pizza. And it was taken! Such a crazy site.
Your kids are so cute!
Ah. Timeout. I wish I had enough energy to stay up arranging furniture, except that in this rental I don’t care enough and I would die, literally DIE, the next day, because I am already functioning in a foggy state. But someday, after my kids are grown, and day-light savings time wears off…
Honey, are you stressed about something? OCD acting up, or are you swinging into Manic mode a la pink-wigged Britney?
Time-outs are the worst in our house. My parents spanked all of us kids, although my father told me it didn’t work with me–but time-outs did. I see that in my son–the WORST punishment for him is to be made to sit still for 3 minutes–it is AGONY for him! I don’t think it’d bother him at all to be spanked.
I’m sure that insomnia would be more fun with 2 – provided your better-half was still speaking to you after you woke him from a sound sleep…in the middle of the night…for companionship or entertainment. Mine wouldn’t be overly impressed, I’m sure.
Love that you have continued our tradition of sitting feuding young’uns together to work things out, while holding hands. And Love that you have added to the tradition by having them say one thing they love about the other. That is genius! And I really really love that they are so sweet about doing it.
I love that you emphasized that they needed to TELL each other something that they loved about them. That just makes the tattling, irritation and parental sighs all worth the while.
And your house wasn’t ransacked. It’s a work in progress!
ROFLOL – share the insomnia with hubby! I can have a full blown conversation with mine at 1am but he knows NOTHING of it next morning. I have promised to never extract a promise from him during these conversations….
Hey, K! I hope it won’t be long before you get some good sleep!
BTW, I have to tell you, I LOVE my neti pot! I use it in the shower after the steam has had a chance to help loosen things up. I know. Eeew, right? But I’ve had multiple sinus infections this winter and it’s the only thing that has helped.
That is just so sweet! We still have the baby monitor in our older two girls’ room (5 1/2 and 3 1/2–I know, they are too old for it). I love listening to them chatter and giggle long past their bedtime. Of course, unless I am trying to watch American Idol. Then they have to be quiet. But there is nothing like “siblingly love!”
definately wake up dan, insomnia is much more fun with 2!! my hubby doesn’t mind being woken up for that. in fact, if i tell him i thought about it , but didn’t, he gets angry. hehe!
my mom used to make us hug and tell the other what we love about them. it seemed to work. i remember nights when my brother and i were supposed to be asleep but instead we giggled and played, fond memories!!
Don’t you have sleeping songs on your mp3 player? They work for me like nothing else. Of course Dan might miss out on all the fun.
insomnia oh “my best friend” of last week too. Hope You sleep better tonight.
You dealt with your kids that sweetly on 3 hours of sleep? You are hardcore, babe. When I’m sleep-deprived, my kids know to steer clear. . . . otherwise sleep-deprived psycho-mommy might rear her ugly head.