Sidekick Sister is closer to five than she is to four. So the other day when she asked me if she could be done with her nap I had no problem telling her that would be ok. I thought it would work out well since she'll be starting morning preschool soon. I was feeling kind of sad that she'd be at school all morning and sleeping all afternoon. I enjoy a little of the Sidekick in my life and I'm not ready to give her up yet.
It lasted two days. By five o'clock on both days she was in an agony of grumpiness the brunt of which was thumped into the Little Linebacker. And when I called her on it she said in a desperately grieved tone with all the drama that her little soul possesses, "But Mom, I'm just so tired. I can't make good choices when I'm so tired." By the third day she was back to putting her own self down for a nap after lunch.
She is soooooooooo my daughter.
I've been trying to make myself go to bed by 10pm the last few nights so that my day-time choice -making leans a little bit more to the good side than the other side it has been tottering toward. Last night I was feeling particularly worn-out. At 9:55 I made myself close my book so I could get to sleep. But then I couldn't find my phone. Which wouldn't be a problem except that my phone is my only alarm clock. I don't own a watch or an alarm clock or any other reasonable time piece. Without an alarm I knew there was no way in all of the land of heck that I would wake up in time to get CK to school.
I looked up and down and all around our 1200 square foot home. I snuck into the kids' rooms five or six times each at the risk of waking Baby Girl which really would have messed my sleeping plans over. The phone was nowhere to be found. It wasn't in my room, their rooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen, the living room. It had left me utterly and entirely alone...and awake...and needing to go to sleep.
In a last ditch effort I said a prayer like some kid in a primary talk. I said I was tired and I needed to go to sleep but I needed my phone, could I please know where it is. Then I stood up, went to the kitchen, opened the cereal cupboard and there was my phone next to the Honey Nut Cheerios where I'd put it when I got my celebrate-the-kids-being-asleep bowl of cereal.
I said my thank you and went to bed feeling grateful to the ends of me. I kind of think my 10pm plan has been endorsed.
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