Category: Kids & Parenting

It seems like all I can write about lately is how busy and tired I am.  It comes along with the season.  No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to keep up with everything going on around me.  Besides the usual hustle and bustle of the holidays, two of my nephews celebrate their birthdays at the end of the year and my whole family is waiting for my brother’s baby to be born any day now.  Every time my phone rings I’m hoping it is them saying they are on their way to the hospital.

Add onto that the fact that I’m in my sixth month of pregnancy and I have a two-year-old who still doesn’t want to sleep at night (although there has been some improvement with the sleeping situation).  I am just so very tired.  Even when I do get to sleep, I’m sleeping restlessly, waking over and over again through the night.  It is frustrating to say the least.  I just can’t stay comfortable for long enough in one position to get a good night’s sleep.  Without sleep, it becomes much more difficult to focus, much less actually complete any tasks.  I think the most difficult thing I’ve done all week was baking and decorating cookies with Zach.

I thought I was actually going to get a break tonight when Zachary turned to me and asked if it was bed time at 7:40 tonight.  I thought maybe I could get a few extra minutes to myself and maybe even turn in early for the night.  Considering that I haven’t been able to get him to bed before 9:00 lately,  I was ecstatic that he actually wanted to go to bed.  I took him back to his room, read a couple (or five) books to him, sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with him, and tried to get him settled in for the night.  By the time I got out of his room it was about 8:30.

I sat down on the couch to eat some dinner, relax, and watch TV for a few minutes.  Before I knew it, I heard the pitter-patter of little feet coming down the hallway.  Since it’s an almost nightly occurrence, I knew to expect it.  The boy can find a million and one reasons to get back out of bed.  After three or possibly four trips to the living room with a new excuse each time, I think he is finally settling down…at 9:30, almost two hours after we started the whole process.  Now I can finally begin my evening.  So much for going to bed early.

The good news is that Zach is actually sleeping better through the night.  Instead of waking up over and over again all night long, he is only waking once or twice and settling back down pretty easily.  Once he settles back down, he generally sleeps the rest of the night.  You would think this would help me get a little more sleep, but I’m still waking up all night long.  It is a little frustrating.

All I really want right now is a few nights of good, solid sleep.  I’m so tired of waking up with burning eyes, headaches, and just general aches from tossing and turning all night.  Even though I’m excited to share Christmas with my family this year, I’m also anxious for it to be over and for things to just slow back down.  I need time to do nothing, to relax, and to sleep.  I’m really looking forward to January.