I sit here like most mornings in a sleep deprived trance. Waking the kids up for school, packing lunches, getting the kids off to school, taking care of a sick one, getting the dog out, setting the little one up with something to play so she isn't bothering the sick one just wanting to lay and watch cartoons.
Then I start to think, crap I'm tired how do I keep doing this? The thought of how much sleep I get each night, and for that matter the past 12 years, makes me cringe. My kids have never been those awesome sleepers that start sleeping through the night at 2 months. Most of them didn't sleep completely through the night until they were over a year old. Even then, it was intermittently.
We have always been a co-sleeping family. Sure the kids sleep in their beds but they sleep in my bed too. With late night infant feedings, infant bonding, night terrors, nightmares, sickness, or pure exhaustion on my part the kids snuggle up and fall asleep.
So today as I sit in this sleep deprived trance holding my second cup of coffee I think back on all this and wonder when will I sleep again. At the same time I am reminded of that country song, You're Gonna Miss This, and know I will.
I remember those nights they are snuggled up next to me in bed and the things they say, the look in their eyes, how they reach out to hold my hand, even those nights I jolt awake just to run to them to soothe away a bad dream. This just reminds me how little time the kids are small and how little time I have to soak up each stage of their life. Each day I just stare at them and think, wow they are getting big where has the time gone.
So today I hold my coffee a little tighter and really soak up these sleep deprived days knowing they will soon pass and that I can't go back, only remember.
Then I start to think, crap I'm tired how do I keep doing this? The thought of how much sleep I get each night, and for that matter the past 12 years, makes me cringe. My kids have never been those awesome sleepers that start sleeping through the night at 2 months. Most of them didn't sleep completely through the night until they were over a year old. Even then, it was intermittently.
We have always been a co-sleeping family. Sure the kids sleep in their beds but they sleep in my bed too. With late night infant feedings, infant bonding, night terrors, nightmares, sickness, or pure exhaustion on my part the kids snuggle up and fall asleep.
So today as I sit in this sleep deprived trance holding my second cup of coffee I think back on all this and wonder when will I sleep again. At the same time I am reminded of that country song, You're Gonna Miss This, and know I will.
I remember those nights they are snuggled up next to me in bed and the things they say, the look in their eyes, how they reach out to hold my hand, even those nights I jolt awake just to run to them to soothe away a bad dream. This just reminds me how little time the kids are small and how little time I have to soak up each stage of their life. Each day I just stare at them and think, wow they are getting big where has the time gone.
So today I hold my coffee a little tighter and really soak up these sleep deprived days knowing they will soon pass and that I can't go back, only remember.