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| From January 2011 |
So, if you've been around these parts for any real length of time, you've read that we struggle with the early morning hours at our house. It's not new, and it seemed to be something that had absolutely no solution.
All in all very depressing.
Some mornings were VERY horrible, Spencer up at 4:30 for the day, a grumpy, tired set of parents and a bad bad energy in our house to start out a day. NOT GOOD.
Other days, I would manage to put a smile on my face, but I was FAKING IT. That's not the end of the world, but still. Being exhausted and then up when it's HOURS from daylight is not a good combo, right? Right.
Last week, when Spencer came barreling in at 4:28 for the third day in a row, AFTER waking up his brothers, I had an epiphany, in the form of the empty bedroom downstairs.
This room is our guest room. We have guests every once in a while.
This room is now Spencer's bedroom.
It has a bathroom adjacent and a hallway that now has a baby gate attached to it. He can get up whenever the freak he wants to, go potty, do whatever pleases him in the comforts of his OWN ROOM.
The rest of us can SLEEP!
It is fantastic.
The beautiful thing about Spencer is that he could climb that baby gate. He could easily come and bug me when he wakens, but it's just not his personality. He sees the gate, and doesn't challenge it. It's FABULOUS!
In fact, the last three mornings, he wakes up at the butt-crack-of-dawn and then eventually goes back to sleep. Thanks to a baby monitor in his room, I hear when he wakes up, and then I TURN IT OFF. I know he's safe, he has toys, he has a bathroom and everything is fine.
Everything else can wait until 7:00. This morning? He was the last one up. I heard him wake up at 6:00 but when I went to free him, he was out cold. He didn't come upstairs until almost 8:00!!!
I just... it's so nice, to not start my day absolutely furious with everyone and everything. I am dealing a bit with the guilt that is associated with ostracizing my child to the basement all by his lonesome, but he doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. He loves his room (because it has a Batman clock) and he knows when people come to visit, he gets to have sleepovers upstairs with his brothers.
It's all good.
4 comments:
No guilt! One of my twins sleeps in my office because he's a light sleeper and his sister is a loud sleeper. If they sleep together, he wakes up too early and then wakes her up as well. No good for anyone!
A happy mom is the best thing for a home. :)
I just saw your post of licking frosting off the temple...haha priceless. I can relate licking peanut butter off of my piano once when I was pregnant and stuck cleaning it for hours *literally stuck* :)
Yay!!!!! The last thing you should be feeling is guilt. I'd have my kid sleep almost anywhere (that was safe) if it meant him getting up at 7am vs 4:30am. I am SO SO glad that you are getting some more sleep!
Tennille- Thanks! You're right, a happy mom is MUCH better.
Hi Shmonae- Thanks for visiting. Stick around. And I could totally see myself licking peanut butter off a piano. Can't let it go to waste! :)
Maren- You, Caleb and his tent are my inspiration. Seriously.
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