Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Nocturnal Mom

I wish, as moms, that we didn't have to sleep. Oh, sleep? That's just for the baby. Me, I'm good. Those babies need lots of sleep, but once you are big and all grown up, you just don't need sleep anymore! But on the contrary, I think I could sleep as much as my little baby. As much work as it is to take care of kids, not only through the day, but through the night as well, I am wore out!!
Sometimes I am up so much at night with the kids, I may as well stay awake all night. That way, I don't have to wake up, fall back to sleep. Jump up, put in pacifier, go back to sleep. Go in Maddy's room and wait until her night terror is over, go back to sleep. Here Maddy's door and go see why she is up, go back to sleep. Stay up for a half hour to nurse, go back to sleep. And then kid #1 wakes at 5:30 am. Good Morning!
Sometimes I feel like I was up more than I was asleep. I know this is just a season, but Dear Sleep, I miss you so!
If we didn't have to sleep, we could get so much done during the night, kid-free, whining-free, activity-free. It would be amazing. Our kids would wake up and we could have spent time with God, deep cleaned the house, had guests over, read a book, spent time online, spent time with our husbands, gotten breakfast ready, and felt fresh for the day. As it is, we wake up (hopefully to a clean house), and start the day with a list of things to do, all while trying to entertain little ones.
Maybe someone has mastered this already, but I find it kind of daunting. How am I suppose to keep my house cleaned, get dinner ready, nurse a baby, school a toddler, get out for an activity (or else Maddy goes insane!!), keep up with emails/Facebook/blog, keep up with finances, be in tip top shape, have a time with God daily, have the energy to work on my marriage and not let it just "happen"...you get the picture. I'm just saying if I had eight extra hours at night...
So, in conclusion to my rantings, and I know every mother feels this way, I am tired. I wish I didn't have to waste my time sleeping away naps and sleeping away the night time, but my body needs a rest after these crazy days! Someday, I will have time to deep clean my house and have guests over kid-free, but for now, I want to cherish these days where I do have my little kids to take care of, my little babies who need their mommy in the middle of the night, little mouths to wipe off after I have fed them, and a little one who climbs into my bed during a storm. So sleep tight, little ones. Mommy will be up with you soon.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, Steph... I'm not a momma, but I feel you!! Since I got sick a couple of years ago, I have to sleep 10 hours a night to feel normal. I hate wasting so much of my time sleeping.

    I'm proud of you for hanging in there... for at least trying to keep up on quiet times, exercise, blogging, etc. It's so much more than we ever thought it would be huh? (and I don't even have kids yet!!)

    Love you so much,
    Erika Tj

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  2. I second this! I have often thought lately that life would work a whole lot better if either a) I didn't need sleep, or b) I could actually get 8 in a row, ever.

    In a wierd way, it's actually encouraging to me to see that you're limping through the same thing. I often find myself thinking that if I just didn't have to get up so early and go to work for so many hours each day, the sleeping thing would be much more tolerable, and I must be the only one who has such a hard time. Or maybe my baby is the only one who isn't perfect at night. You have dis-proven my little self-pity theory - thank you! :)

    Isn't it funny though, how it's so discouraging to get woken up at night, but then when you pick them up and snuggle them, you're still so happy to see them? I think that is the miracle God works to keep us going. I'm still looking for a day-time miracle for while I'm at work, though... caffeine is sadly off-limits as long as we're nursing. :(

    Luci

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