Sleeping beauty

My kids have never been good sleepers. Since day one really. Yeah, there were a few nights along the way where I thought "yeah, we got this thing... they've got it down pat and we won't be one of THOSE sets of parents..." How wrong I was. Seth's been sleeping through the night since he was about 2-1/2 or 3 - a little over a year now. He gets up occasionally during the night, but it's pretty rare anymore. Abbey, on the other hand... that girl's internal sleep clock is messed up. The (recent) former routine was bath, bottle, then I'd sit on the end of her bed while she fumbled around and tried to get comfortable. Sometimes this went on for 30+ minutes. That just plain made me mad that I "had" to do this every night. And most nights I'd leave her awake, only to trigger the next phase - the crying and yelling, getting out of her bed, spanking, etc. I was going to bed very late every night, then being woken up a few hours later when she'd pile in between us. Inevitably, I'd end up in my 2nd bed, the rocker recliner, for the remainder of the night. Now, I will admit - that is one comfortable chair to sleep in - if one has to sleep in a chair. But my bed is much better.

We've recently made a breakthrough of sorts (insert clapping and cheering). She's been sleeping on the love seat for about a week or two now. I make her a little pallet of blankets and she sleeps there. Just within the last few nights she's actually stayed there all night long. That's a breakthrough, people, in case you missed it! It's the little things that make me happy. Not only am I not sitting with her, waiting for her to fall asleep, but she's actually staying out of my bed! As I type away, she's behind me all covered in big bubba's (Hollis's) penguin blanket, zonked out from her long day which included a 15 minute nap. I just hope this isn't another one of those times where I'm thinking "we got this thing..." and it's really just a passing phase. I would love for her to sleep in her own bed, don't get me wrong. But for now, I'm just enjoying the simple fact that I can have some free time to myself while she drifts off on her own. Not to mention getting my bed back permanently.

I'll end with our nightly exchange: "Night night, sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite."