Coffee is not an old friend. It's a relatively new friend that I've come to rely up every so often since Mason was born. I used to even hate the smell, but now I can tolerate it. Lack of sleep will do that to you I guess. Usually, I drink it only when Dave (a coffee addict) makes a pot. I only recently even learned how to make it myself. However, this week, I think I've set a new record for myself and made a pot of coffee every afternoon in a futile attempt to keep myself alert enough to function normally. All because sleep is not my friend this week.
Take last night for instance: I went to bed at 9:30, about 5 minutes after Lauren finally went down. (She was up late due to all the napping she did during the day to make up for the sleep she missed the night before.) At 11:15, she was up for who knows why. Maybe teething, maybe an upset tummy, maybe because she learned how to drive Mom crazy. I went in, cuddled her for a minute and put her back down to fuss herself back to sleep. She settled down after a few minutes, as did I. A few minutes after that, Dave came to bed (after staying up late working - or was that to watch the Magic game on TV?) which of course stirred me again.
I went back to sleep relatively quickly and all was fine until 3:15 when Mason called me to to take him to the potty. He only wakes up a couple of times a week to go potty, and I much rather he do that than wet the bed, but he always seems to pick the nights where I'm already getting little sleep. It's been suggested to me several times to just wake him up to go potty before I go to bed and maybe it will help him sleep longer at night. I'm afraid to do this because he's such a light sleeper and I don't want it to backfire on me. He usually gets upset when I try to take him to the potty when it wasn't his idea. Maybe one day if it gets bad enough, I will try it (except it would be pointless when I'm forced to go to bed so early as I've been doing the last few days.)
As usual, it took me awhile to get back to sleep after taking Mason to the potty. Finally I drifted off and what was probably a couple minutes later, at 4:15, he called me to take him to the potty again. This time I tried to get Dave to go, but he just said, "What?" and rolled over back to sleep. So I let it slide and got back up to help Mason. But for whatever reason, when I got him on the potty, he said he didn't have to go. He was more interested in looking at the toys left in the bathtub after Lauren's bath last night. I think he just never went back to sleep after the first time, and he was scheming for some middle of the night company. Back to bed again.
This time, I didn't get back to sleep at all when Lauren's 5:00 wake up call came from the next room. I got up yet again, this time making lots of noise and loud sighs to try to show my frustration to my blissfully sleeping husband. It was all I could do to fight back the tears of exhaustion.
After Lauren was fed and changed, I put her back in her crib to sleep. But go to sleep she didn't. I let her fuss for several minutes and finally realized, she wasn't going back to sleep. I reluctantly got up and took her downstairs. After about an hour, she was sleepy enough to go back to bed so we both got back down around 6:00.
Not long later, Dave got up to get ready for work. Thankfully, he was paying a little bit of attention last night, so instead of making lots of noise in the bathroom, he just went downstairs and waited until I got up (which was 8:15 when Lauren called again). He went into work a little late so I would get a little extra bit of sleep.
Things look better in the light of the morning, so I don't feel so frustrated now, but I'm certainly glad today is Friday and the work week is almost over. Not only have I not been getting enough sleep, but Dave's was out of town this week for 2 1/2 days for work and Mason and Lauren have both been extra whiny. I've also been busy trying to keep us all entertained now that school's out for the summer. Maybe I've been making us too tired during the day and it's affecting us at night. I think today and this weekend we'll just take it easy and try to get back to our normal routine.
But I will definitely keep my pantry full of coffee. I'm gonna need it.
12 years ago
4 comments:
I feel your pain. I was also never a coffee drinker until children :) Now I need a cup in the morning and a cup in the afternoon just to make it through the day! When I'm up snuggling for the 15th time in the middle of the night, I just keep reminding myself that ONE DAY they will be teenagers who will sleep great and never want to snuggle.....
I remember thinking that I should be committed to the Looney Bin due to lack of sleep. I hope it gets better for you soon!
karen, i am so sorry you are dealing with this. hoping the sleep fairy will visit tonight!
Karen, I've told you this before but I admire the way you handle your lack of sleep. I would be grumpy, mean, and would complain a lot! God must have taken that into consideration because I can honestly say that I suffered very little sleeplessness since Tyler has been born. But I only have one child so if we do have another I will likely join the "I need coffee in the middle of the day just to survive club!"
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