Desperate for Sleep

So in the great "Quest to get Abs to sleep 2010", I decided to try a few new things.

Melatonin--what a joke!  It has no effect on her.  None.  It was a nightmare. 

I was cleaning out the garage, and found 2 baby gates.  These are the really tall ones, so I thought that they would be perfect.

The first night, feeling all proud of myself, I put one gate up.  I made it high enough where she couldn't go underneath it, but it would still keep her contained.

*****Disclaimer******  Abs knows full well that she can kick down these gates in an emergency and escape, so don't give me any grief about that people.  On the bright side, if she kicks them down, I will hear it and rush to her room to bust her before she gets downstairs.

Okay, back to the first night--SHE SLEPT!!!  Of course since she had been up over 24 hours, I wasn't surprised, she was exhausted.

The second night (Tuesday), I put the gate back up like the first night, and she escaped.  I didn't hear her, but I did hear the tv at 2 am.  I chased her back to bed, then spent the next few hours chasing her back to bed again and again and again.  

ABW 0 Abs 1

The third night, I was not going to be a fool, so I put up TWO gates, one on top of another.  At 2 am I heard Abs open the door and she called out for me because she had to potty.  No problem, I opened the gates, let her potty, and then put the gates back up.  I went back to bed.  I slept.

This morning I woke up and was patting myself on the back again about getting some sleep, and I went to get the kids up and I noticed that Abs had left her door open, but the 6 foot high gates were still in tact.  Score one for ABW.

I mean, look how tall that is!  There was about 6" of clearance at the top.  I would be able to hear it if she kicked it down.  She could call for me and I am such a light sleeper, that I could let her out if she needed to potty.

I found a solution.

I peeked inside to wake up my beautiful 9 year old well rested daughter.

I didn't see her.

I opened the top gate.  Opened the bottom gate.  She was nowhere to be seen.  

I looked in the closet, under the bed, in all the covers on her bed.  Nothing.

The little imp CLIMBED over SIX FEET of gates and escaped.  She was sitting downstairs watching tv in her bucket of beans.

ABW 0    Abs 2

What I Want....

I want to be four again.

I want to make grass angels and think that everything is right with the world.

My Wild Thing

Why I shouldn't read blogs

I was perusing a blog this morning, and she talked about how homemaking was her job, and she took it seriously.  She gets up early, cooks, cleans, prepares delicious meals, blah, blah, blah.

I wanted to choke her.

The next blog in my reader, was describing how to create HANDMADE love notes for your child's lunch box.  Seriously?  Write on a napkin or buy the ones premade, never mind that my kids always buy their lunch.

I didn't attend any bible studies this week.  Or last week.  Or the week before.

We had cereal one night for dinner.

The laundry isn't done, the floors aren't spotless, and I don't get up early to make my kids a hot breakfast.  I fix something for Junior, and the girls are on their own.

I think it's okay if my kids wear the same pajamas more than one night.  (I don't think they should wear the same clothes every day, but luckily that's not an issue here!)

I don't handmake my husband cards.  I don't send a letter every day to Gunner.  I don't make cute countdown chains or calendars or any of that stuff.

I don't water my lawn, because if it dies then I don't have to mow it or go through the trouble of getting housing to do it.

I don't save everything I am getting rid of for a garage sale.  If I didn't like the person who gave it to me, am I going to want money from the sale of said item?  Not hardly.

I do love my kids, take care of my kids, workout, keep the house reasonable clean, and make sure there is always toilet paper.  The dog gets walked, fed, and watered.

I don't spend my free minutes scrubbing, cleaning corners with qtips, or making sure the underside of my chairs have no spots on them.

I did take my children ice skating, to the What If festival, to the Cool Science event, on a walk, had a movie night, and took them to Burger King because I didn't want to cook.  (Pictures to come)

Life is good, and if my baseboards are a little dusty, at least I know it's for a good reason--Em, Abs, and Junior.