Some days are just a trash day: This is how it goes.
One and half years. That’s about how old our Little Guy is. And two nights ago he slept through the night. He has done this before, but then, something amazing happened. The Little Guy did it again the next night! Not just through the wee hours, but into the morning when he should actually wake up! Now, on to the third night. Sitting on the couch with my wife, doing some much needed admin work, I think to myself, “I should really get our taxes done. I can stay up a little late because LG has been sleeping great!”
Now I know what I should have known. The one night you stay up late, is always the night you should actually get to bed.
Mistake #1
I finish the taxes, and feeling accomplished, I head to bed.
Four and change hours later… crying. This is not totally unusual. Little Guy was wet and I don’t blame him for wanting to be dry. I change him.
Go to put him down, and he won’t go down. Maybe he’s a little hungry. Hey, I would be too, so I get him a little milk, hoping that will get him sleepy. It worked.
I get up stairs. One hour til I need to be awake. I have played this game before. I could go back to sleep, but with my 1.5 hr-ish sleep cycles, I risk waking up groggier than I am now.
Mistake #2
I stay up.
You know, there is some reading that I have been wanting to do. Let me make some coffee and ease into this morning with some leisurely reading.
Coffee is brewing and I crack a crisp new book, Socrates’ Children: An Introduction to Philosophy from the 100 Greatest Philosophers. This is nice.
This Is How It Goes
Then it happened. Train decides that it wants to roll through at 5 AM (rather than it’s more common late evening time) blaring its horn at every empty intersection.
The tracks are just under a mile away, but with LG freshly down and lightly sleeping, it might as well have been outside his window.
We’re up again. He is cranky. The tears have made him stuffy, this time requires some rocking to get him back down.
I tip toe out, and think I’m clear. Not totally, but I think he will go back down.
Alarm for my normal wake up time goes off.
I shower, we made it, LG is down.
Trash Day Take away
Some days are just trash days. Everything seems to add up to the perfect storm. But it’s going to be alright and there isn’t anything to do but ride it out.
Parenting is harder than I thought it would be. The kids are not equations I can solve. I don’t want to complain. I want to affirm that being tired stinks, but it is worth the sacrifice.
And LG’s older sister is now up too… I suspect she heard the train.
I have to rush to work now.
Good luck, and prayers for my beautiful and under-appreciated wife, and for the long day ahead.
This is how it goes.
Aaaannnnddd… I’m running late, because I just remembered… it’s trash day.
This is how it goes.