Today I sent my son to school tired. It seems the 9 hours of sleep that was enough for him, is no longer. We stayed up until 9:30 watching a Mummy movie that I had planned to have ended by 8:30, but due to technical difficulties,(the DVD player kept freezing, and it took us forty minutes to figure it was the machine and NOT the disc itself that was screwed up-sorry Blockbuster, all those offensive phrases were truly unwarranted!), we were off course. So, the poor kid was sent off to school a little tired.
I haven't not been tired in over 18 years. Since the words "you're pregnant" were uttered, I have not been fully rested. Not once. I have lagged, sagged, and drooped through these past 18 years with not so much as a single nap. I have stayed up all night with puking kids (my favorite puking moment -wait, did I really just write that?- My favorite was when my oldest son was about four. He came to my bedroom where I was enjoying the half sleep of a parent with toddlers and uttered that most instantaneous of wake up calls "Mom, my tummy don't feel so good."
With a leap worthy of Bruce Jenner going over a hurdle, I sprang from my slumber and ushered the bemoaning youth in front of me into the bathroom. Apparently retching one's insides out is a natural born instinct, because this never before yakked child knew enough to perch over the bowl while his breakfast, lunch, dinner and lets not forget the bedtime snack-2 cookies and milk-decided to make a grand reappearance in a somewhat more fluid manor.
I had just washed and changed him into fresh bed clothes and was settling down with him in my bed when he leaned toward me and asked "Mom, what was that brown stuff that came out of my throat?" How to explain the volcanic forces of a flu bug to a four year old? Well, first, you stifle a snicker, and then you dead pan. "Sweetie, that happens to all the little children who don't eat their vegetables". OK, OK, I was tired, AND I hadn't been able to get the kid to eat a vegetable in two and a half years. Some call it cruel. Me? I was multitasking, and making the best of a yucky situation!
Another sleepless night: There is nothing like being awaken (again middle of the night -apparently really bad, need to be dealt with immediately things only happen in the middle of the night when-yup you guessed it---I'm sleeping)- anyway, nothing like being awaken by that sleepy sounding child's voice. "Mom, I don't feel good...."
I opened one sleep-encrusted eye wide enough to see a sleepy seven year old covered with (peanut butter? syrup? dear god not feces?!!?) holy shit.... it's blood! The kid was covered in blood! All over his jammies, blood. His face , covered. His hair? More blood. Talk about hit the ground running!!! After we (read I-my then hubby grunted and rolled back to sleep---hmmm an indicator of things to come?)- ascertained that, no, he had not been stabbed by intruders, nor had he massacred his still sleeping siblings Ala Lizzie Borden (although I DID have to double check the oldest step sister-Geez, that kid could sleep through an earthquake--I am pure green with envy there!). It seems Son #1 has poor sinuses, and having turned the heat up before bed time, I inadvertently dried out the poor bugger's sinus cavity, thereby causing a nose bleed. He then proceeded, in his sleep, mind you, to wipe his nose on to every surface on or about his body. (That kid is a slob even when he's sleeping!!!)
And so it goes, another sleepless night for Mom. Well, the kids are older now, and the nosebleed kid is starting to drive. And his curfew is past my usual nine o'clock bedtime. Needless to say, I am more tired now than when they were babies. And there's a heck of a lot more to keep me up all night worrying, even when they are home in bed.
So, if you're a little tired from movie night, kiddo, just think of it as a little payback. And not to worry, 'cause I got us ANOTHER movie for tonight. And just maybe it's a wee bit longer than last night's feature film. Hey, I can't help myself. At least while he's watching the movie, maybe I can catch a nap!
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