Make sleep my priority

This is going reasonably well. Except that the kids are off track. But it was lovely to sleep so much and so long last weekend. Still riding on that high.

But the allergies are still taking a toll. Last night I woke up due to them, and then the kids woke before 6 am. Luckily Noodle took a 2 hour nap this morning and Q can be bought with Thomas videos, so I don’t feel awful like I should.

Of course I’ve had too much caffeine today, so perhaps it’s not a fair assessment.

I woke up feeling rested for the first time in ages. Got a 2 hour nap yesterday and must’ve gotten 8 or 9 hours last night. Still looking forward to our anniversary in a few weeks when I won’t be woken by small children two nights in a row, but feeling like I’m over the GI bug that had me feeling puny and simply less exhausted.

Sadly, J threw up last night, so I think the GI bug has a new victim. Hope the kids escape.

this is both forward and back on this goal. I only got about 6 or 7 hours last night. But I woke with a gi type of bug and due to having weirdly cooperative children (Noodle took a long nap, Q played happily by himself in hearing distance), I got to sleep another 2 hours or so this morning. And then the gi bug went into a wildly painful dimension and I ended up at the local outpatient clinic where they pumped me full of saline, some painkiller, and something to relax the stomach muscles. I fell asleep and when I woke up, the stabbing stomach pains were gone. I think that I was mildly dehydrated from the cold that hit me last weekend, and then the gi bug sucked me dry. It’s tough when you can’t hide your pain from your kids. It’s also tough when you find that the floor of the bathroom is a soothing place to sleep.

Nonetheless, I decided that I would be ok in charge if J went to work this evening and now the kids are in bed, having just been perhaps more cooperative than any parent could dream of. Noodle is even asleep already. I’m going to do a few chores (dishwasher, kitty litter), drink more water, maybe some decaf tea, perhaps dare a second piece of toast, and go to bed.

supplemented with Nyquil. I do feel much more rested, despite my cold. Kind of a dangerous strategy. With Nyquil I sleep hard enough that I can’t hear Noodle cry. And J could sleep through a tornado. Lucky for her she timed her wake up on Saturday night before J fell asleep.

I woke up from the best dream this morning where I was hugging Mr. Rogers. The kids were still asleep, so I could’ve gone back to sleep, but I realized, how could it get better than that? So I got up, all happy, with time to actually get stuff ready (Mondays are crazy) before the kids were awake and clamoring for diaper changes and oatmeal and bottles all at the same time, and it looks like if I just get up 30 minutes before them, I’m likely to be in a good mood on Mondays, which is practically unheard of.

Not to overlook the Mr. Rogers factor. How could that not be an awesome start to a day?

Two nights of enough, even with one of being interrupted by each kid once. If they go back to sleep quickly, it makes a big difference. Especially if I also go to sleep quickly.

No doubt I’ll start staying up until 12 again and work myself into another glorious illness…..

No, I won’t. I think I may have learned this lesson finally. Until the chum has some sort of sleep revolution, I will make sure I go to bed early.

With serious discipline, assistance from my husband’s exhaustion, and Nyquil, I got 9 hours of sleep last night, interrupted at 3 am for another dose of Nyquil.

I feel pretty rested, but I also feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I nearly passed out while changing Noodle’s diaper this morning, which really scared me. (Imagine a squirmy infant with an open poopy diaper on a high surface next to an adult who is trying to simultaneously not fall over and simulate putting their head between their knees while holding said baby safely on the high surface.)

Kids are luckily scheduled for preschool and Grandma already, so I’m going back to bed.

but not for lack of effort entirely. A nap screwed up my bedtime one night, then I went to bed early enough, but got woken at 1 and couldn’t fall asleep till after 3… Last night was ok, but not great, maybe 6 and half hours. Now I’ve got a cold, so no more compromises. Unless the baby or my head prevents it, I need to be in bed by 9. Maybe even with a dose of nyquil.