Statistically Speaking

So here's what I've decided: let's just say that you have three children under five. And one of them is a baby who is naturally going to wake up multiple times a night for the first year. And one of them is a four year old who has always struggled with night terrors and bad dreams. And one of them is a two and a half year old who has recently been moved in to share a room with his sister. And all of them are naturally going to be sick, but not necessarily at the same time, so that it drags on for weeks and weeks.

Odds are, you aren't going to get much sleep.

Back when Luke was a newborn and he was sleeping in our room still, we went through a serious honeymoon phase. We slept through the night on multiple occasions without hearing from any of the three of our children. I think it was God's mercy, preparing us for what was to come, because the honeymoon is over. In the past several weeks, I would say that we are up with one of the kids an AVERAGE of 3 times a night. There are a few blessed nights when it's only once or twice, and there are awful nights when it's 5 or 6. One after the other, after the other...

While we were at my mom's last weekend, we had put David in a pack n' play in the room with Katy. For the first time in his life, he figured out how to climb out of that pack n' play, and that was the end of that. The first night I think he came out ten times. And this is at my mom's house, where our family is given three whole bedrooms to work with. That's the same number we use at home, so it should be easy, right?

Then Katy got croup. The worst part about croup is the night time attacks. We've had several bouts before, so now I know the drill: open the windows in her room, turn on the humidifier, and when she wakes up screaming and panicking, struggling for breath (it's SCARY), wrap her in a blanket and take her out on the front porch. The swelling will go down within 15-20 minutes and she'll be able to breathe more easily. So this week we were dealing with that.

But somehow, it's okay. I get the sleep I can get, appreciate their naps when they work out, and we get through the day. I know that there had to be an end to this at some point. We will sleep better.

For now, I'm just lowering my standards. The house is what it is. The kids might go an extra day or so without baths (did I just admit that?). Their daily TV allowance might get stretched (that, too?). But we make time for the fun stuff and try to enjoy our days. Otherwise I might just go crazy.