Sleep stealers

There are 3 main reasons for Mr Sleep's absence - Child one, Child two and the most recent addition, Child three! Recently, Child one has decided that my evenings should be spent cajoling him to settle down and go (the fook) to sleep. He has the uncanny ability to know exactly when I've just managed to sit down for five minutes peace and uses that precious moment to announce the 10th toilet trip of the evening, or to discuss his plans for his latest Lego creation. 

Although he isn't running round out of control, shouting, or crying, he is nonetheless, awake at a time when I know he should be asleep. A time when I wish he was asleep. We've had to reach an agreement whereby he reads quietly in bed and that, in theory, gives him tired eyes! 

Child two generally settles well at night. However, in the past two weeks, he's decided that he no longer likes his bedroom. In fact, it's the worst room in the house at present and is apparently, scary. This perplexes me a little considering it's light, bright and beautifully appointed. With him, I have agreed to let him keep his lamp on, so long as he nods off without fussing. 

Child three, the baby, isn't a bad sleeper, all things considered. Although I am breastfeeding, I still manage a few hours of sleep. Nevertheless, she hasn't been well over the past 10 days and that's been hard on her and on me! 

The thing about lack of sleep is, in my opinion...it's all a bit shitty. You could argue that I've chosen to have three children and indeed I have but it doesn't mean that I can't find things tricky and that I have a superhuman ability to cope with the minimum amount of shut eye possible. After all, I'm just a normal mum...muddling through and trying to do the best she can. 

I'm honest - no sleep makes me grouchy, super tearful and it makes me do and say things that rationally are not 'me.' My tolerance levels drop to the floor and I struggle to prioritise daily tasks. Yesterday, when a dear mummy friend came over for an impromptu coffee, I just decided that I needed a day where I didn't have to think about the bigger picture too much. We just, on the spur of the moment, decided to head out for a spot of shopping and more coffee. For my tired, fuddled brain it was the perfect medication. 

So from now on - I'm going to sod crying into my coffee when my eye bags are at their biggest and I'm going to distract myself by taking a little bit of healing 'me-time.' This might be coffee with a mum friend, reading a mag, surfing the net, or simply staring into space! Who cares?! As mums we put so much pressure on ourselves to soldier on regardless of how utterly crap we might be feeling. Sometimes though, this is counter productive. Join with me then - let's laugh in the face of no sleep and take some time out when it's most needed. Hugs to you all - you are all amazing!