Why you won't hear me complain about my baby waking at night

Any parent knows that children, and especially babies, don't exactly improve your sleep.  In fact most will tell you that they have lost countless hours of sleep since their children came into the world.  And it is no different in my life.  Both of my children fight sleep like crazy and are night owls by nature.  I am not.  I have always been an early to bed person, even from the time I was a little baby.  My parents often tell the story of when I had just learned to crawl and I all the sudden disappeared.  They started looking for me and found me in my room standing up next to the crib and whining with hands up, seeming to be asking to be put in the crib.  My mother picked me up and put me in the crib and I was instantly asleep.  That's me.  I love sleep.  My kids, not so much. 

They love staying up and will do anything to try and stay awake.  Both of them will start squirming like crazy if they catch themselves getting heavy eyelids, and often will start kicking and screaming. Why?  Because they do not want to go to sleep.  You would think that resting their minds and bodies was pure torture by the way they act.  It's not unusual for one of my children to be up until 2am despite my best efforts.  I can't even tell you how many times I will get the baby to sleep just to have him instantly pop his head up out of nowhere and give me the biggest smile.  And there have been many times where in the middle of the night he will sit up and start laughing, climbing on me or my husband acting like its time to play.  Every single night I nurse him at least 4 times to get him back to sleep.  Most nights I am only getting around 5-6 hours of interrupted sleep. 

 

But you will never hear me complain about my loss of sleep.  Why?  Because out of all the reasons in the world to lose sleep, this is the most worthwhile reason of all, to nurture and love a young child and to try and help them get back to sleep.  I have lost sleep over some pretty fruitless and sometimes downright stupid reasons; watching t.v., reading, playing spider solitaire (I have told you before I have an addiction to that game), studying for a test, writing a paper, or from before my mothering days.... partying.  All of those reasons are not as important or honorable of a reason to loose sleep as taking care of my sweet precious babies.  Because in my eyes, there is an eternal purpose for taking care of my children.  All of those other reasons I have lost sleep are for worldly reasons but taking care of my children, who have a soul and will live on for eternity... taking care of them has an eternal purpose. 

So no matter what time of day, or night, I will not complain of my duty to nurture them.  Yes I will occasionally joke about how they are night owls and I am not, or will laugh (sometimes cry)  (jk) about their late-night tactics to keep themselves awake, but I will not complain or feel sorry for myself.  Because my babies are alive and well.  They are healthy and strong and beautiful.  I have too many friends who have lost their babies, or have babies with very serious medical issues. So I will not take any moment with my sweet, precious little ones for granted. Even if it is in the middle of the night and I will be a zombie the next day.  After all, that's why God gave us coffee.

Here is a song parody I wrote that touches on my constant battle to try and get my night owl baby to sleep.

And now for some funny baby, sleep, and coffee memes..... because laughter and coffee is the best medicine.....