I am a bit of a light sleeper. This has done me no good these long years with a husband who can on occasion, snore quite loudly. It has been made worse by the fact that the cats and dog also snore.
Having three children has made things worse.
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time IN MY LIFE that I slept more than four hours at a stretch.
Sleep is probably the biggest thing we suck at here at the House of Crunch. Yes there are many many other parental suckages…but this one is probably to BLAME for all the other suck moments and issues.
Don’t get me started on the nightly war with Adam to eat ANYTHING on his plate and then explain AGAIN why he can’t have ice cream for dessert when he DID NOT EAT ANY OF THE DINNER I MADE!
Sigh.
When Adam was a baby, we did all the worried new parent things. We read too much. We fretted too much. We refused to leave him alone. EVER.
We drove him around the city at night. I would rock him to sleep. Then Patrick WALKED him to sleep. Then, in toddlerhood, we LAY down with him to sleep.
To this day he STILL asks almost every night if someone will please sleep with him. He even gets his poor sister roped into this comfort issue.
SHE was a bad sleeper. She would GO to sleep..at night, no problem. Napping was hell though and she lived in her bouncy chair on a dryer till she would doze off. She would also never STAY asleep.
Two hour stretches.
This was not good.
I recall queuing up the dvd player for long nights when I sat in the rocker in the dark with Caity draped across my shoulder.
I recall many late nights when we watched the really crappy stuff they put on late night on Treehouse TV.
School age has not been much better. There is always one or two of them creeping into our bed, shoving dogs and cats out of their way, and usually one of us ‘rents too, who can’t take the elbows or knees and flees to either the couch or one of the kids beds.
Musical beds.
Musical beds that have gotten STUPID with the arrival of Tara. Who also will not sleep. Ever.
We have tried her in our bed. We have tried in her bassinet beside our bed. Then I just gave up and moved her to the crib in Caity’s room and told Caity that if she cried, to just come and join us. Together we try to ignore the cries, protests and general unrest that emanates from the crib. All made worse now that she is upright. Now she will get up and stand their in the crib waiting for someone to notice her.
Yawn.
And yes….I tried the ‘No Cry Sleep Solution’….we sort of do it with Tara…but frankly, we are so freaking tired that I am beyond any ‘patient’ training.
I just don’t care anymore about her ‘feelings’…cruel and harsh as that sounds. I love her. Adore her. But at night…
These nights it is get up, comfort, sort blankets, give a little bottle and stumble back to bed. Repeat. Over and over and over and over with little variation.
It is all we can really do. We are now just focusing in how we can get her back to sleep without disturbing the whole house.
I am beyond feeling tired anymore. It is routine now.
Don’t get me started on the dog and ‘lets shake my collar REALLY LOUD’ in the middle of the night because mommy forgot to take it off.
What is pissing me off is that now the kids have a new weapon in their arsenal of not going to sleep when we tell them too.
Now they use poor Tara for an excuse to just get in our bed. ‘OH MOM, we can’t POSSIBLY sleep in our own beds!’ ‘The baby is making WAY too much noise.’ This when their is actual silence from the crib.
Getting these two kids to bed is now a total joke.
We start the warning countdown to bed around 7:30 on school nights.
We warm them up gently to teeth, pj’s etc. We promise books either read by us or for them to read on their own if they ‘hurry up.’
It all means squat to them.
As soon as we say good night….the whole circus of talking to each other, going from room to room, picking new books, getting drinks of water and so on, goes on and on and on.
More and more I sound like a walking cliche…”Don’t make me go up there!’ I holler!!!
Sigh.
Again.
Honestly, I could handle the nights of Tara better IF my family went to bed and left me the fuck alone for like two hours, so I can watch some crappy tv, eat some junk and wind down ON MY OWN!
I am even highly suspicious right now to how or where they are asleep. It is quiet. Got quiet around 9:30. I don’t dare look to see where everyone ended up sleeping.
Usually the only way I can get them to give up on the chatter is for me to go up and glare at them from my own bed.
At 9 pm.
Come ON!!!?
There was a war here…..and the children have clearly won it.
Olivia says
I don’t have much to offer for the other members of your family, but for the dog maybe a dog tag silencer will help.
http://itzadog.com/quietspot.cfm
My dog’s tags rattling used to drive me absolutely nuts.
Rhonda says
have you tried putting Adam and Caity to bed and sitting in the hallway outside their room? a few nights of that and they should get the message. make sure you have a good book
.-= Rhonda´s last blog ..wordless wednesday =-.
Texan Mama says
Oh, my, word. I so feel for you. I love this comment:
Honestly, I could handle the nights of Tara better IF my family went to bed and left me the fuck alone for like two hours, so I can watch some crappy tv, eat some junk and wind down ON MY OWN!
So true. So true.
When I was a kid and I wanted to sleep with my mom, she’d let me sleep on her floor with a sleeping bag. That was good enough for me. Maybe that would work for you? At least they wouldn’t be in your bed.
Good luck, though!
.-= Texan Mama´s last blog ..I {heart} faces challenge: Focusing On Angles =-.
Sharon says
LOL. I now *so* look forward to starting my own family.
Come to think of it, my parents drove me around to get me to sleep …. walked me around …. fed me probably sleeping pills so they can get the occasional shut eye.
My poor husband. He’s got to do all the same things for me just to get me to sleep. Lucky him.
Michelle says
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I read this post. I don’t know how you function on so little sleep. I hope it gets better 🙂
Crunchy Carpets says
Yeah..my doctor just laughed and said I looked good..bwahahahahahahahaha
harrietglynn says
Sorry but that gets a LMAO!
.-= harrietglynn´s last blog ..Are you worried about the future? =-.
John says
In an incredible twist of bad timing tonight of all nights one of the 2 1/2 year old twins climbed to the top right corner of her crib and decided to make a jump for it. This ill advised attempt at escape has set in motion a chain of events that I now know will not stop unfolding until early adult hood.
Our attitude towards sleep had been if it aint broke don’t fix it. Yeah 30 months is, some would consider, a little old for cribs but the establishment of the bedtime routine had been so hard fought we were loathe to change it. We knew that the bill was in the mail but were hoping it would be delayed indefinitely.
It was the improvised acrobatics that pushed up the time table. I know now what I have to look forward to…So thanks for that. 🙂