because really…you are all wondering WTF right?
I mean what sort of parents are we? Massive Fail I tell you….at least in the ‘how to raise well adjusted, sleeping children.’
Caity sleeps. Albeit sometimes in odd places and positions…but she does sleep.
She didn’t sleep when she was a baby however. Naps were a nightmare till she was older or so exhausted that she would drop on the spot.
Adam didn’t sleep. Or at least it would take a MONUMENTAL effort to get him settled and seven years later, he still does.
It is draining.
I cannot believe how difficult bedtime is with these kids.
Well….with Adam and he gets Caity all riled up. Caity – the one that drove us nuts with her fussiness is now the easy sleeper – when she isn’t being riled up by her big brother who pesters her to read with him, stay with him and on and on.
This boy at age 7 cannot sleep without lights and a radio blaring. Unless he is in bed with us. `
Every night we do the same routine and he still turns to us in shock…WHAA? What is this bed you say?’ Every freaking night.
Every freaking night.
It then takes hours for him to settle. Hours.
He reads, he gets up for drinks. Then the bathroom. Then to tell me he is troubled by something. Or his legs hurt. Or there is strange lights in the sky….the list goes on.
Ten pm roles by and he is still up.
We have ready every sleep book. I followed Ann Douglas and her Mother of All series….if there had been a test..I realize now I would fail.
With three freaky kids who don’t sleep…what did we do wrong?
Our slacker parenting has obviously been totally the wrong approach….
Though with Adam, I just think it takes a monumental effort to get his brain to shut down..he cannot relax. It just isn’t in him.
His brain and his body are going all the time…..hence his skinniness. He burns energy.
Tara is the same. For a baby who doesn’t sleep…she doesn’t show it. She is going and going…a little pink energizer bunny.
And we get sleepier and sleepier.
And less able to handle all this buzzing zapping energy whirling around us.
I have never met more energetic and frenetic kids….they are oozing with life…with energy…with joy. I love it…..I love how everything excites them…but man..the non stop talking and moving and whirling ….how do they do that?
Suffice it to say…..as a parent I continue to feel that I am running trying to catch up….trying to keep up…trying to figure it all out and being two steps behind these creatures.
How did two lazy slackers get kids like that?
Also suffice it to say…unlike many mom bloggers who share their tips and ideas about ‘good’ parenting….that will never ever happen on Crunchy Carpets. I will not be publishing a book about parenting. However, we may be the subject of one…or a made for tv movie….you never know! I will not be on TV due to my amazing crafts, homemade clothes, plastic free toys, etc etc.
Examples of what tv and video games do to kids….fer sure!!
Sigh.
We have amazing kids. We love them to pieces. They are bright, artistic, energetic, funny…..but ooooooh soooo tiring and demanding.
And all I am sure due to our unstructured way of life.
I am not a routine type of person. Neither is my husband.
We stick to our guns when it comes to discipline…..but other than that….well I am sure their therapy bills will add up down the road when they are grown up and wondering why they are the way they are!
I like to think their strength in character will do them well in their adulthood.
But lack of sleep does not help me win any battles of logic with them these days.
Smart little buggers.
Amber says
We aren’t routine people, either. And bedtime is a struggle for us. In fact, I even wrote about the lack of sleep today. I don’t think it’s as bad for us as for you, but I am definitely not winning any ‘raising a good sleeper’ awards.
The thing is, I don’t think it’s the parents. My first kid slept really well, for a time, and then she just stopped. I didn’t change anything. And then my second kid has never slept well at all, even though I tried to do the same stuff with him that I did with his sister. Some kids are just like that. We are awesome parents, anyway.
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Naps Are (Apparently Not) for Babies =-.
Marilyn (A Lot of Loves) says
I have to admire you guys for functioning as well as you do on no sleep. I think I would have gone bonkers by this time.
I agree with Amber in that some kids sleep well and others don’t. At least that’s the way it is with my kids. My son is not a great sleeper and my daughter is a precious gem in that department.
I wonder what Adam will be like when he hits teenage-land. He’ll have to sleep then. It’s the law.
.-= Marilyn (A Lot of Loves)´s last blog ..Margarine vs. Butter: What’s Better? =-.
harrietglynn says
Again, I ought not to laugh but that photo is AWESOME!
I have a new suggestion for you. A white noise machine so T can’t hear the other kids…. no doubt you’ve heard that one before.
As I say to everyone, all children sleep by the time they’re 13.
.-= harrietglynn´s last blog ..Earth Day 2010: Ten little things we do =-.