Mudlark Tales

IT WORKED!!!!!   (And the angels in heaven sing praises)

Last night Little Man fell asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed. That means he was asleep at 8PM. This morning… are you ready for this? He woke up at the usual 5AM, cried in protest that he was in bed for, oh, about 20 seconds, and promptly fell back asleep, knowing that it was too early to get up. At 5:20 Bean cried in her sleep (because that’s what Bean does) – something about “No! I want that cookie!” – really frightening stuff. Anyhow, I crept into the room to calm her, and noticed that Little Man slept through the whole ordeal.

It’s now 6:20. The night light went off 20 minutes ago, meaning that they’re now allowed to get up and roam about the aircraft liberate themselves from their room. And my kids are still asleep in their beds! Both of them!  I’ll give it a few days to sink in with them, and then the night light is being re-programmed for a more ‘humane’ time.

Kids were in bed last night at 7:30. Talked until 10 PM (but stayed mostly in bed). Little Man up at 5. Listened to Little Man cry on-again, off-again for nearly an hour (while guarding the door, as much to keep him in as to keep other concerned family members out). Thankfully, it didn’t disturb Bean until it had been going on for 45 minutes. An hour after it started, said night-light went off, crying immediately stopped (amazing how he can go from 900 decibal crying to silence in the blink of an eye), Little Man said “Light off!”, jumped off his bed and said “mergi jos?” (Romanian for “go downstairs?”) with a great big smile on his face. Just one more piece of evidence that the crying was not true ‘trauma’, only manipulation. Real tears don’t turn off that easily, replaced by a smile big enough to startle a clown.

Kids went downstairs and watched PBS Kids, I made dinner in the crockpot. Then I made breakfast for kids. And lunches. While munching on oranges, because that’s all I had time for. And cleaned the kitchen, broke up fights, and managed to get today’s paperwork ready for work. Little Man refuses to eat. He refuses to do just about anything. And what would you expect from a thoroughly sleep-deprived 2-year-old? Finally, after being awake for 2.75 hours, I had time to make coffee. Have just now sat down for the first time this morning. Am so tired I don’t know how I’ll be able to take a shower, much less make the 20 gagillion appointments I have today. Did I mention I have 20 gagillion appointments today? Starting at 9AM, without even a break for lunch, going strong until 4PM, at which point I will rush home to collapse, hopefully to be undisturbed until next week. (Dream on, right?)

As for the musical beds, yesterday was much more productive, except for the fact that the timer on the night-light didn’t work. Kids went to bed that night easily. Little Man slept until 5:45, and stayed in bed (with me next to him) until 6:30, at which point I unplugged the night-light. Hopefully now that he’s seen this morning that the night-light does indeed go off, and that mama isn’t the softy he expects me to be, he’ll stay in bed tomorrow and wait for the light to go off (it’s been set back to 6AM for now – when he gets used to it we’ll gradually increase it until we make it to 7). But for now, I’m exhausted, and thinking that a bath might be a better idea than a shower, for the simple fact that I don’t have to stand up and might conserve a teensy weensy bit of energy so that I can indeed make it through the day, aided by my coffee, antibiotics, iron pills, and prenatal vitamins.

Have I mentioned that it’s entirely unfair to be pregnant in the third trimester chasing a 2-yr old and 3-yr old, have anemia, and a respiratory infection all at once? The upside is that the kids laugh at my funny voice…

When the in-laws came, my mother-in-law agreed to sleep in Bean’s room. Bean was waking up sometimes 6 or 7 times a night with nightmares, and it’s worked out well. Father-in-law had his own room (our guest room), and Bean only wakes up occasionally at night.

But now that Little Man doesn’t have a binky, he wakes up around 5:30 in the morning. Screaming. If someone comes into his room, he’ll often go back to sleep for another half hour or so. So we figured… We need his room for the nursery soon anyway. Why not put him and his sister in the same room?

So we made the switch on Sunday. That night Bean taught Little Man that he can actually get up out of his big boy bed. And so he did. And he learned to open the door. And the two of them played for 2 1/2 hours before finally falling asleep. There was much fighting, much crying in the meantime as hubby and I went into their room and coerced them into their beds. I hoped that after such a late night they’d both surprise me and sleep in.  Unfortunately Little Man still woke up before 6AM. And he got out of bed and tried to wake big sister. (**the little stinker!**) She stayed asleep anyway until almost 7.

Today I remembered something I read in a Parenting magazine ages ago. It had to do with a night-light on a timer and a rule that when the night-light is on the kids stay in bed. We’re trying it tonight. So far, so good. They’ve been in bed for an hour, and though they’re still awake talking, they’re both in their beds. At first Bean was reminding Little Man that he needs to stay in bed when the light is on. Soon, Little Man was the commenting… “light on… in bed.” And they’re whispering. That alone is a miracle for my kids.

We’ll see what happens in the morning. I have a feeling Little Man will forget about the rule between now and then. But wouldn’t it be nice if he wakes up, reminisces about his pleasant evening of conversation, and chooses not only to let his sister sleep, but also obey the rules and stay in bed until… can it be? 7 AM!   (That’s when the timer is set to turn the light off.)