Thursday, April 3, 2008

And miles to go before I sleep..........

Yesterday I was really tired.

REALLY tired.

I had stayed up quite late the night before working on an activity for my son's school class.
I know that right now you're probably thinking "Sure it was a school project, she was probably just blog surfing." Let me assure you that it was indeed a school related project. It took so darn long because CJ decided to run the program "Time machine" that backs up everything on the computer. It also causes every program I try to open to freeze.
The last thing I want to see at 2:00 a.m. is the rainbow colored spinning beach ball of death indicating that the program has frozen (again) just as I'm trying to print something.

We have a new rule. CJ is not allowed to run this program until late at night after I'm done with the computer.
So there!

Back to being tired. When the kids got home from school, I told them that I just needed a short nap. I asked them to keep an eye on Max, and start on their homework. I went and laid down, planning to sleep for one hour.
A few minutes later, I'm almost asleep, and here comes Max. "I take nap wif you mom." He was acting kind of tired, so I snuggled him down under the covers.
Brielle came into the room a few minutes later. She hopped up on the bed and snuggled in.
Max begins to giggle.
Brielle begins to giggle.
I say "Okay you guys, if you're going to be in here, you need to settle down and be quiet."
They were quiet for a minute, and just as I was beginning to drift off, the giggling began again.
Next Max sits up and starts bouncing. Then he starts punching the pillow.
Next, CJ comes in to see what's going on. He sits on the edge of the bed and starts tickling Max.
I pull the covers over my head, foolishly thinking that I can just ignore the situation.
Then I hear Aaron out in the hallway. He has turned on the vacuum.
Meanwhile, the bouncing/tickling/giggling is escalating.
I start to tell the kids to cut it out, when the phone rings.

It's my husband.

He's calling from work to see how we're doing. Now don't get me wrong, I love it when my DH calls home to chat, it's just that the timing was so perfect.

In less than ten minutes, I had every single member of my family sabotage my nap.
I've come to the conclusion that my family just can't handle it if I try to sleep.

(In all fairness, my DH was unaware that I was trying to rest, so he's off the hook)

This whole "don't let mom sleep" thing started out when they were tiny babies. They seem to have come hard wired with this ability to tell when I am the most tired, and then make it impossible for me to sleep.

The same way that a dog can sense fear in a human, my children can sense exhaustion in me.

I think that maybe the next time I need a nap I'll tell the kids that I need someone to help me do the dishes. This usually causes them to disappear quickly, and it might just keep them away long enough for me to get a decent nap.

Now if I could just figure out a way to go to the bathroom by myself..............

16 comments:

Bonnie the Boss said...

Good luck with that. I have found that my kids getting a little older gives me a little more time to go to the bathroom. Naping is still out of the question. Mine decide instead to fight right next to my head.

Hey It's Di said...

I don't know if it ever changes with the kids thing and trying to take a nap. My 19 year old seems to know when I'm napping and decides to play guitar hero and crank it really loud. I was hoping things would improve with age? NOT:(

As for going to the bathroom alone, I finally got my kids to give me a little space. (outside the door of the bathroom) but now my puppy insists on being in there with me. Is there any hope? I think not:)

Unknown said...

If you figure out the bathroom thing let me know! My 3 year old can sense when I have to pee, drives me crazy!!!

Heather H said...

My 3 yr old and 1 yr old are the exact same way. I dont remember what it was like to get an uninterrupted nap or a potty break to myself during their waking hours. Its like they have some kind of creepy radar that alters them that I have lifted the toliet seat.

Kalynne Pudner said...

You can tell them you need help cleaning the bathroom.

Your "sleep-in" morning sounds like the one I had last month:
http://phdwithninekids.blogspot.com/2008/03/caveat-emptor-morning-edition.html

Jessica G. said...

So...I probably shouldn't tell you how my kids sleep til 8:30 am every day? Or how they keep themselves amused in their beds until 9-ish, when I'm ready to get up? And that my 3yo still takes a nap and my 5yo sits and reads (yes! reads!) books while he naps? heheheheehe

Melissa said...

Naps? What are those? Never heard of em... as for going to the bathroom alone, I'm a bad mom. I lock the door. I don't want anyone in there while I'm doing my business. And I agree with bonnie... my youngest is 4 and she just doesn't want to be in there... hurrah!

Elizabeth said...

I Love the idea of asking for help to get them to leave you alone!
Actually, my kids not only let me nap, sometimes they let me sleep too long...ooops. They'll do anything to be allowed to watch a movie in the afternoon.
God Bless & sleep tight.

Jo said...

No letting hubby off the hook. He got the "I need to take a nap" vibe all the way to where he works and answered it!
I got a nap today! whoot!

Leah said...

My oldest, Emily, was my major nap sabatour, and I never bothered trying after I added two more children to the family...

BTW, we have a CJ at our house too! LOL

Jen said...

I feel your pain. I nap while my girl is asleep, but the phone rings every time. So I have started napping with the phone next to me. Luckily, she's too short to reach the bathroom knob.

Suburban Correspondent said...

That has so happened to me. Just wait until your teen daughter decides she has to wake you up to see if you know where her Geometry book is.

Carolyn said...

Sleep deprived mother's of the world unite! Poor thing. Have you tried duct tape? Works great around their arms and legs and over their mouths.

Kidding. Does that make me sound like a psycho?

Lois said...

OK, so it isn't just my kids. Now I feel much better.

Camille said...

Don't you love that our kids completely ignore us if we are happy, awake, and have nothing going on. But the second we feel slightly sleepy, or have a project we'd like to work on...suddenly they are magnetically drawn to us.

Damama T said...

I'm in the same bathroom boat as di. I finally got my kids old enough to allow me to accomplish both naps and pottying alone and then we got two dogs. They are worse than the kids ever were! They hate closed doors plus I can't seem to convince them that my bathroom rug isn't for their excremental convenience! ARRRGG! I actually find myself WISHING for the good old baby days. LOL!