Raising Little People
It’s 2:45 in the morning. I should be fast asleep, dreaming about our summer beach vacation, resting up for the busy weekend ahead. But instead I’m in bed, rubbing my four year old’s tummy, hoping he’ll fall asleep soon.
This isn’t an unusual occurrence. He wakes up most nights around 1:00, runs down the hallway, climbs in our bed, and snuggles into ‘his’ spot. On the nights he falls back to sleep quickly we take him back to his room. Other nights are spent with me sleeping on the edge of the bed, elbowing the hubs that we have company, and going back to bed until my wake up call from my mom. And then there are these nights. Nights when I wake up before he does, full of a unusual amount of energy, within moments realizing it’s because I’ll be up with the kiddo for awhile.
Now I know somebody out there is thinking I’m insane. Sleep train him! Make him sleep on the floor! Just say no! Why doesn’t Jacob get up with him?! We’ve tried all of that. And some nights the hubs will stay up with him. Am I going to be exhausted tomorrow? Probably. Am I going to let him sleep in and go to school late? You betcha (Judge me if you will but trust and believe his teachers thank me for this one.)
About three weeks ago I realized that my children are, well, children. I mean, okay, I know they are children, but sometimes I would find myself having expectations for them that didn’t make a lot of sense. Do I get cranky and want to cry about random stuff when I’m really tired? Yep. Do I get very frustrated when I’m misunderstood or confused? Yep. Do I sometimes just need my Mom or Dad to talk to or hug me when life is tough? Oh yeah. But I’m an adult and for the most part, I have to behave like one and regulate my emotions and not ‘lose it’. I have to get up and get to work on time, even though I’m so tired I can’t stay focused or make a coherent sentence. I have to adult.
My kids. Not so much. At some point I want them to grow up to be emotion regulating, all night sleepers who adult, and adult well. But they are four and five, and right now they won’t or they simply can’t. And that’s okay. Because every night I pray that God shapes them into who HE wants them to be…not who I think they should be…and that they both embrace my love and appreciation for sleep 😃.
Well, he’s asleep and I have a load of laundry to wash. Until next time…