Brought to you from The House of Crud
Otherwise known as: Cough, sneeze, "Are we out of tissues again?"
How to make Momma's eyes bug-out #27: At the dinner table last night 3 year old had a small coughing fit. When he was done he held both fists above the table and asked, "Why does my heart sometimes stop doing this?" Then he made squeezing motions with his hands.
Some FODs cause cardiomyopathy. Jack's heart has been tested- so far so good, he's fine. Still, knock me over during the middle of a dinner! I didn't realize I was on edge, off kilter, out of balance, until 3 year old's artless comment.
The cause is probably my favored culprits: stress plus lack of sleep. Yes, I'm back to my long running topic of my unrequited love affair with sleep. The frustrating thing is that it's my own fault.
About a month ago the 2 yo had a cold while my husband was out of town. I was lazy and just had him sleep with me so that I didn't have to walk through the cold house to check temperatures and blood sugars. 3 year old brother has night time E.S.P. . It didn't take him long to sense the new sleeping arrangements.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. I have nothing against a family bed, but for it to work for me I'd need to sleep with someone else's family. My 2 year old grinds his teeth, talks in his sleep, radiates unreasonable amounts of heat, and break-dances from dusk to dawn. Not to mention 2 yo and 3 yo compete continually for bed real-estate. My husband and I might as well rent bunks in Akron as expect any room in our own bed with the two toddlers.
Soooo, I've been half-heartedly trying to reestablish bedtime rules. I'm an experienced Mom, right? All my other children were great sleepers right?
My experience means zilch up against the dynamic duo- especially when I'm already sleep deprived. You can't use tough love on 2 hypoglycemic chronically ill children to make them wait for a reasonable hour for a drink or snack. When is it a need versus a desire and am I awake enough to be sure of myself?
Therein lies the rub. They sense my lack of confidence. They are night-time grifters looking for a mark.
I guess the fact that they always creep to my side of the bed in the wee, illegal hours, is telling... After some prayerful contemplation I've realized I need to kick myself in gear and set up a sting.
Tonight.
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9 comments:
I went through this very same thing a few years back. My solution was to sleep my two together. They are a year apart in age and fit nicely in the double bed. They bucked the system for a few nights, but eventually accepted the arrangement.
I also bought a special mattress (but that is a different post) which seemed to help too. Is it possible that you could put them in the same bed?
Ack. I hate it when that happens. You can do it! You are the smartest one of the bunch! You are a strong capable mom! I have a similar problem. Mine wakes up at the crack of dawn and I have gotten into the nasty habit of letting him watch cartoons for an hour in my bed while I go back to sleep. I can't decide if I want to do something about it or not. 5 am is just too too too early.
Did you just stop eating after his comment at dinner? I would have.
May the force be with you tonight!
Oh and I liked the post that is now gone about your 15 yr old and speaking - very cool- had to read it twice b/c I haven't had enough coffee and these days my words relvolve around a 2 yr old :-)
Betsy, Great idea! We did that with our now 15 yo and her now 13 yo sister when they were toddlers- but I had completely forgotten to try that.
In fact I followed your suggestion and tucked them in together tonight.
We'll see.
JoAnn- I know exactly what you mean about not being able to decide if you want to do something about it.
Girl Next Door,
I did eat. Very little can keep me from eating:)
The teen age poem I posted by accident. I'm going to post it with shots of what my 17 yo ds asked me to do to his hair for a stupid hair contest, a contest that he won.
Hope the sleeping situation gets better quickly! I always tell my husband that sleep is sanctifying. :)
I hope you can get some sleep tonight!
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