It is Sunday morning once again. I sit here with my coffee by my side as I type away on my laptop and my dog working on a bone at my feet. We are both clacking away; I at my keyboard and the pup at her tasty bone.
Both of us live in constant fear of waking up, THE CHILD!!! Actually, it's just me. I'd like to think the dog is in on it with me, but she wants nothing more than to have the kid get up and play tug-of-war, or a round of belly scratch or the game loud-squeaky-toy-sound-off. Man's Best Friend...Pffffttt!
I got lucky yesterday in that my daughter slept for a good 11 hours even though she still woke up early. I'd kill for eleven hours of sleep but I'm at that age where too much time in bed leads to back pain, an unstoppable urge to have to go to the bathroom or just extreme boredom. Also my dog is at that age where she likes to think "why the hell should he sleep past sunrise?" I just don't sleep very long.
It's not that the world would end if the child woke up now, it's just that the world would be a little less pleasant. My child is a great kid. She's a lot of fun and pretty funny. But, like any kid, if she doesn't get enough sleep she will be a whiny mess all day.
She will complain about any and everything. Basically, on "lack of sleep" days, I feel like I am raising a ticking time bomb. She might explode at any second and when she does, well, you just hope you're not in public; That's the worst.
Now, on vacation it is hard to get a lengthy night of sleep every day and so I have learned that if I "cave in" and let her get her way more often than normal during a trip, there is a lot less chance of the time bomb going off. Letting her watch Spongebob in the hotel, or maybe letting her have that much needed milkshake for lunch is comparable to cutting the correct wire on the device which ends up adding another 24 hours to your bomb going off. But that's the key, I'm still just postponing the inevitable.
But I think I'm getting lost on a tangent here. All kids do this. All kids need sleep. All parents want quiet and peace and we have a choice to make about teaching our children responsibility or choosing to have peace each and every day. All parents will do what they can to ensure that peace but we still have to teach our children those life morals and responsibilities.
So as parents, if we're up to the challenge, we'll let our kids have their meltdown moment just so a.) they learn a life lesson and b.) they understand that we, the parents, are convinced that we call the shots! However, if we're having a day where we're not up for the challenge, then we may cave and give in to the Mr. Hyde-esque qualities the kid may show, just to ensure some peace until we, the parents, are ready.
With that stated, I'd like her to sleep for another 2 hours this morning. So I will continue to sip my coffee in a quiet house with the tv off. If she wakes up in two hours, I might make muffins for breakfast. If she wakes up sooner, I'm thinking hot fudge Sunday for breakfast.
Yes, today I am choosing peace!
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