Tuesday, January 20, 2009

More Unexpected Lessons from Maternity Leave

I had a bad night last night and an even worse morning. I am living on 4 hours of sleep and got up this morning to my daughter's first in-bed accident in 2 years. Needless to say that my sleeplessness and rough morning has brought me a few more lessons.

1. There is absolutely nothing on tv between 4 and 5 a.m. I don't know why it's just that one hour. Some stations run infomercials between 3 and 5, some between 4 and 7, but between 4 and 5 there are pretty much infomercials and 24 hour news. That's really all.

2. Everyone should have two mattress covers. I had two mattress covers for my daughter, but one night when we were having an argument, she decided that the best way to cope with the conflict was to spend the time she was confined to her room burrowing between the mattress and the sheet. She absolutely shredded the plastic lining of the mattress cover. So, I threw it out and made a mental note to replace it. Then, I completely forgot. So now, I am holding onto consciousness by a thin thread and I have to stay up longer to do laundry, too.

3. No amount of napping makes up for real, in-the-dark, bed sleep. I could nap all day today, right up until the time I pick up Brynna and it would not matter at all. I would still be tired. I would still be ready to go to bed at about 7 tonight.

So, I finally have Maren asleep. I am going to go throw in a load of laundry and then I'm going to take a totally useless nap that won't make me feel any better. When I'm done with that, I'll grab something to eat, gather Brynna's library books and go pick her up. It's going to be a long, hard day, but at the end, it'll be 8:30 and I'll be tucked in bed.

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