Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I forgot to read this chapter in the mom handbook.

So last night J was a very restless sleeper, waking up a few times for no apparent reason and then going right back to sleep. Finally around 4:45am he woke up crying, looking for some Hot Wheels car (his new obsession) that he took to bed with him and was now of course not in his hand. I could hear him wailing, "Where my car? Where my caaaarrr?" from down the hall, and that quickly turned into "Mommy! Mommmmyyyyyy!" Of course no yelling for Daddy. After a few minutes with a pillow over my head I got him and brought him into our bed. I knew this was a big mistake before I did it but like a rookie I was praying he'd just go to sleep.

I have to add here that although I know alot of people co-sleep well past this age, it has never worked for us. J has been in his own bed since he was about 9 weeks old, and it is RARE for him to sleep in bed with us. I'm sure he loves it but I can't take all the jumping, kicking, and constant "Turn the TV on! Pweeeese? Turn the TV on! Let's watch Dora! Pweeese?" In general if I'm bringing J into our bed it's out of sleep-deprived desperation, and it usually doesn't work. So I knew my chances of failure were high, but I had to try - it was still dark outside for pete's sake.

At that point J was up for the day, a fact that he knew before he ever got in our bed but that it took me, oh, 30 minutes to figure out. 30 minutes of:

J: Turn the TV on!

Me: Be quiet and lay down.

J: (whispering) Turn the TV on!

Me: Stop talking.

J: (standing up) I jumping! Uh-oh, I falling down the stairs, aaaah! (giggling).

Me: (quiet trying to ignore him).

J: Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?.....Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?

Me: Oh my God STOP SAYING "MOMMY" AND GO TO SLEEP!

J: Ok, I'm sleeping now. (10 seconds later) Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? What are you doing? Mommy? I want juice! Juuuuuuuice. Juuuuuuice.

Me: I'm asleep. It's still night time. Lay. Down. And. Go. To. Sleep.

J: It's dark in here. Turn the light on! It's dark.

Me: That's right, it's dark because IT'S STILL NIGHTTIME. For the love of God, please lay down and be quiet for 15 minutes. Just 15 minutes. Is that so much to ask? 15 minutes of rest? And why are you way over here on top of me? Daddy's laying right there, why don't you lay sideways with your feet propped up on him? As a matter of fact, why don't you ask Daddy to get up and turn the light and TV on and get you some juice??

J: (looks over at TH and then whispers) Mommy....shhhh....Daddy's sleeping.

Me: (Unable to speak because I'm gritting my teeth so hard.)

TH: (snickers, apparently he's heard this whole exchange) What can I say....you're the Mommy.

6 comments:

LauraC said...

Classic!

Oh yes, we have a rule that Alex is NOT to come to bed with us unless it is my day to get up with him. I can't even tell you the number of times he wakes up at 4:45 crying for something and we always think it will be a good idea to get some more snoozes.

Joanna said...

I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I'm so, so sorry.

Steph said...

OMG, were you at my house last night? I swear the exact same thing happened to us, although wake up call was 5:15 and due to needing ice for a chin injury sustained at daycare the day before...

Heidi O said...

Hmm Are you sure you weren't just copying the conversation at our house but it was my husband who took mercy on me. And Maggie came down and climbed in bed with us.
It is a slippery slope.

Julie said...

Ugh, 4:45am is just inhumane! Lana is also a fan of the "mommy mommy mommy mommmy" thing. I told her one day I am changing my name to "Stella" and now she calls me "Mommy Stella".

Mountain Mom said...

Erin has taken to getting herself up at 5am these days. She gets up, comes to our room and goes straight for her daddy! LOL! I love it. :) If Tyler wakes up, though, he will scream and cry and I am the only one who can sooth him. At least he will go back to sleep. That's the only saving grace there. ;)