There is this haze that you live in when your kid is up all night…somewhere between awake and asleep…between compassion and frustration…and that is where I was last night. Parker was having a bad night – we found out today his top molars are poking through and he has an ear infection – but last night, well, it was crazy. He was up every 45 minutes or so from 11:30 to 4 a.m. and I would stumble out of bed to try and calm him down. Sometimes it worked and other times…no go. There was one time – not sure when it was – where I got him calmed down, put him in his crib, closed the door, and I laid down on the hall rug to wait and see if he would fall asleep. He did…but so did I, waking up only because my leg went numb. It was so surreal…
…but I guess that is what we do.
Like today, when 3 p.m. hit, and both kids were finally down for naps and all I wanted to do is lay down and croak…I couldn’t…there were groceries to put away so they didn’t spoil, laundry to start so Ben had clothes for tomorrow, and Norton Antivirus to call so that we didn’t lose everything to anti-spyware.
Now, I don’t say this to brag, but to remind myself that this job is hard and draining …and the next time that I start to feel guilty about “wasting” time watching Top Chef or America’s Next Top Model, I can remind myself that “Hey, you earned it!”
Now, off to bed. I think I have sufficiently decompressed so that I can fall asleep…
