~ grateful for ... a good night's sleep ~

The sleep gods have never smiled on us.

We've patted and rocked, tiptoed around, replaced dummies, wrapped and re-wrapped, sung and cuddled, taken back to bed (over and over), read every book, consulted every "specialist, tried every trick.

And still....night after night...the night terrors, the padding of little feet, the warm breath in your (sleeping) face, the flinging of limbs, the restlessness of co-sleeping, the desperateness that is born of lack of proper sleep.

This week it crept up on us.  One night alone in our bed.  Then two.  Before we knew it....5

That's ... more than I can ever remember.  (in too many years to count without feeling faint).

It deserved high praise (we delivered).

And big treats (a new doodle book fitted the bill.  And that treat that is prized far more highly than its true worth..the freddo)

And a lot of gratitude.

I'm joining in with the grateful gang over here

What are you grateful for this week?

♥

~ the one with the sick kids ~

When I signed onto this mummy caper (in truth there was no signing on, not much planning even) the one thing I thought the Doc and I would have a handle on was kiddy illnesses.  We're both medical, we have the bit of paper that says we completed extra kid training, we even have quite a good dose of common sense between us (not so common).

And its true, we can recognise, diagnose, not panic about the minor things - the colds, the cuts, the sore ears, the wheezy, moist coughs that have others running to the clinics.

The major things...well touch  a whole forest....we haven't had to deal with too much there; a couple of broken arms, a hospital admission for gastro, an asthma attack that had us at ED in the wee small hours.

Its the nuts and bolts of it that get me; I'm ok with blood but too much vomit, snot and poo have me running for cover.

And there's been way too much of it this week - all three have had a day or two off, the panadol's running low, there's not a whole lot of quality sleeping happening (but what's new?),  tempers are frayed and patience is low.

{our cute retro medicine chest - in truth, its full of chocolate hidden from the Doc}

So I'm hoping this week is the end of all those niggling winter viruses, funny bugs and what not.

That we can have quiet weekend at home, resting and recuperating and then move into the rest of spring happy and healthy.

What's your week been like?

♥

~ musical beds ~

I'm feeling tired today

This is NOT a new feeling (by any means.  I'm not going there though.  The whole sad litany is enough to have anyone reaching for the anti-depressants, the gin or another blog to read).  In fact, things are so much better than they were 12 months ago that I don't feel I have the right to even mutter under my breath about it (except of course I do because that's what some mum's do - sacrifice sleep for love and then talk moan about it when anyone will listen).

[Just in case reading about someone's else's sleep woes might make you feel a bit better about your own lot in life here's a very brief summary. Princess G has barely slept through a night since birth.  She's almost 7.  She was having bizarre night terror type events that lasted started at 9-ish, lasted all night and that had our GP, the paediatrician, the web and the anyone else who would listen totally baffled.  We had tried eveything - including special permission to use a drug they use for airforce pilots with disrupted sleep cylcles.  And nothing.  Cue an amazing osteopath, a gradual improvement and a total reversal in my opinion of alternative therapies. We have our evenings back now and things are gradually improving all round.]

But the musical beds thing is getting to me.

The small people who live in this house can't seem to get enough of this game.

On and on and on...

Night after night...

The same old tunes....the same old game.

Things start well - we all love story time, they settle well, they are not serial get-uppers, the evenings are generally peaceful. 

But I could count on one hand the mornings that we all wake up where we went to bed. 

Princess G comes for a cuddle,  I move to find a HRH LL J a dummy, I choose the empty single bed, someone has a nightmare/needs a drink/wants a cuddle/is moving from the snoring and joins me.  I move again.  Someone wakes early and we go somewhere else for an attempt at sleeping past 5am.  And there in the KS bed the Doc sleeps (snores) through it all - simply opens the arms wider to cuddle any strays. 

Part of me already knows that I'll miss it when its gone.  That those precious, barely awake hugs are like gold.  That I'll long for those little arms around me and those sleepy endearments.

But for now I want to wake up in the vastness of that KS bed, just me and the Doc, and realise that I've slept all night and that I feel good.

♥