Tired Tyrant (aka: Terribly Touchy Toddler)

Why do we never fully appreciate sleep until we are too old to have time for it?


The last week or so Midge has decided that sleep is for suckers and that the crib is equivalent to a concentration camp for babies. Usually his fears peak between midnight and 2am. He just doesn't want to be in there for anything. I have tried putting him in our bed but he is all over and my fear is that he will go headfirst off our king sized bed and get a bruise worthy of a CPS call. To top that off he refuses to nap. He staggers like someone put a nipple on some Fat Tire and allowed him to suck himself into a drunken stupor. Every small simple task that doesn't go as planned is met with a shrill scream, red face and a funny foot stomping charade that looks like a Mexican hat dance. He yawns, rubs his eyes, and looks dazed but is determined that sleep will not overtake him. It's a self-inflicted type of misery. Kinda sadistic if you ask me.

To add pain to misery the kids just started school again and now we have to rise early to be gone at no later than 7:30. Then I have to take him to pick the kids up right before noon and right before 2pm. Poor kid's schedule is just wacky.

So as uncrunchy as this sounds I have resorted to allowing him to fuss in the crib. I have concluded that this is for his own good. I just have no other options. Either I have a complete mess of a child on my hands or I let him cry and crash out in the crib. I try putting him to sleep first but once his head hits the mattress and he realizes that he is back in baby jail he wakes up and jumps to his feet in protest.

I have to ponder the cruelness of this whole scenario. I mean if I was that tired and I had the chance to go to sleep I would rejoice and jump in bed in a heartbeat. If I am that tired now I knock back some caffeine and try not to kill anyone with my overtired outbursts. I pray for a moment of sleep...just the right situation where I can lay my head down and rest and the kids will be safe and cared for. The laundry would do itself and the dinner would be on the table when I woke up. Ah, to dream. But in order to dream I need to sleep. DANGIT!