What I Did with a Day & Night Off

My boys don’t sleep well. I’m lucky if they’re both asleep by 10:00 every night. Some nights, they both wake up several times, coming into my bedroom. I have to get out of bed and put them back to bed. A REALLY good night is when they each wake up only one time. Scott has insomniac tendencies and is often wide awake at 4:00, ready for the day. As an infant and a baby, he rarely napped for longer than a 30 minute stretch.

I have no relief, really. Occasionally, one or even both of them might sleep through the night. It’s rare enough to notice it when it happens and to appreciate the extra sleep. But my alarm goes off at 4:30.

A friend insisted on taking my boys to her house Friday night. I came home from the soup kitchen and they were gone -my house was empty.

So, like the geek I am, I got caught up on my Doctor Who. I’ve pretty much given up all television, but I love Doctor Who — a show too scary for the boys to watch but a source of pure mindless enjoyment for me. David Tennant is my favorite Doctor, and I’ve put off watching his end. I have four total episodes to watch to see him die and a new doctor to take his place. For two hours, I watched “Planet of the Dead” and “Waters on Mars” then queued the final two-part show to watch with Kaylee another time.

I also pre-purchased tickets to see Narnia – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (That link will take you to the PluggedInOnline.com review of the movie.) Last night was opening night, and I wanted to surprise Kaylee with tickets.

I picked Kaylee up from school, and the two of us went shopping so she could finish her Christmas shopping. Then we went to the Movie Tavern – a place that serves meals with your movie. We got there early enough to be first in line, which got us a table in the center of the theater – the perfect spot. We snacked on hot wings, sliders, hummus and flatbread, while we watched the best movie of the Narnia series so far. (I’m not kidding – this movie was phenomenal.)

Afterward, we did some more shopping then headed home. I spoke with Gregg and told him I intended to wake up early and just write and write for hours until Kaylee woke up. Gregg insisted (and he rarely insists I do anything) that I turn off my alarm and sleep until I woke up.

The dogs woke me about 5:00 to go outside. I couldn’t ignore them, because one is almost 11 and has incontinence and the other is 8 months old and is still house breaking (ask me how tired I am of cleaning up after these two – heh.) So, I got up, let them out, and, strangely, went back to bed.

The next thing I knew, it was 8:10. 8:10! Gracious! My Power of a Praying Wife post did not get written. I didn’t write in my book at all. I can name a dozen chores than need to be done, which include but are not limited to finishing Christmas cards, finishing decorating for Christmas, and baking something for my Sunday School Christmas party. But here I am sleeping until 8:10, then lying around in bed watching a silly British comedy on Netflix instant until 9:00.

I have completely taken the time off and feel great. My back is sore from lying in bed for so long and I find myself listening for the boys. But I must have really needed the rest and needed to shut my mind off for a bit.