Does anyone want to trade children with me?

I keep reading about other people's fun experiences during the summer: how their kids will spend all day happily playing outside in the pool and then crash into sleep at night, sated on activity and Popsicles. I guess I had some sort of expectation that our summer could be like that. Instead, my kids seem to get more and more sleep-deprived with each passing day. Then I tried buying a little pool today, and a bunch of pool toys for it. Both the kids got in for a minute or so, and then decided they were done. S-Boogie would at least play with the water, but Little Dude kept giving the pool dirty looks until he finally stripped off his swim shorts in protest. Then he headed for the house and could only be bribed to stay out a little longer with sidewalk chalk.

I'm sure all this would be slightly more humorous without the ragged edge of sleep deprivation. After our marathon night a week ago my body seems to have decided that it never needs to sleep again, and after a week I'm feeling stressed out. Then a few days ago Little Dude discovered how to climb out of his playpen and we've been in hell ever since. Last night was the worst--he got out of the room at least three or four times each hour, all night long. None of us, S-Boogie included, got any sleep. Even though he's still incredibly cute, we're all starting to dislike him a bit. Especially since his latest tricks include things like opening Tutu's front door and running out into the street and trying to jump off the chairs in the front room. Hopefully in a month we'll still all want to move to California together.

Comments

Kristeee said…
You could always see if you could sign them up for the show Baby Borrowers or something.

I hope Little Dude calms down a bit with the escaping, and that you can enjoy the next month.
7/14/2008 10:36 PM
Carina said…
Ugh, it's terrible, isn't it? Mine are up too early, go to sleep too late, and don't take naps.

I keep wondering when we'll get to that magic point when if they go to sleep late, they sleep late.

We're not there yet.

Ugh.
7/14/2008 11:18 PM
Anonymous said…
Just remember these days. In only 10 years you'll be harassing them to get out of bed at 3pm.
7/15/2008 12:36 AM
Jenny said…
Maybe yours are out of practice of being outside all day in nice weather. :) Also, I remember having to booby trap out front door because Ethan would leave the house and wander around our apt complex just off a busy road. Awesome.

I'm sorry you're so tired.
7/15/2008 7:15 AM
Earth Sign Mama said…
This, too, shall pass. But that's little consolation now...It's just that Little Dude is an early achiever: getting out of bed over and over is usually a three-year trait. Or, rather, you were 3 when you did this...
7/15/2008 9:23 AM
strivingforsunshine said…
I'm laughing and laughing. We are also spending the summer with family. My little one has also just learned to escape the portacrib. I am constantly taking her back to bed... back to bed....back to bed. Only a few more weeks.
7/15/2008 2:20 PM
Anonymous said…
Last week we were fed up with Lego climbing out of bed over and over and over. We tried the trick you see on Super Nanny, where you return him to bed over and over with no talking and no eye contact. Didn't work. He thought it was a fun game. For a while it worked to threaten the crib—if he didn't stay in his bed, he'd have to sleep there. Now he can climb out of the crib too. This has been going on at least since Duplo was born seven weeks ago. Anyway, for the past few days he's been going to bed a lot better. We found out that he hates being held (gently, of course) in bed. Now I only have to threaten that or, at worst, do it for a few seconds before he's begging me to let go and promising he'll stay in bed. (insert demonic laugh here)

The principle my mom suggested was to make it less fun for him to be out of bed than in. It sounds mean, but for us it kind of worked. At least for now. *crosses fingers*
7/15/2008 3:35 PM
Desmama said…
Oh, wow, I'm sorry it's been so rough sleep-wise. I do hope things get better and you are able to come to a solution that works.
7/15/2008 3:52 PM
Denise said…
I'll trade! I'll trade! Our lack of summer fun can be evidenced by the three weeks of no posting on my blog. And I feel for you with the escaping toddler. Poor Eli is trapped in bed every night by his crib tent. That Baby Borrowers idea doesn't sound too bad.

Seriously, I am so sorry. It's so much harder to deal with crazy kids when your not at home or when you don't have a home. I hope things get better.
7/15/2008 4:12 PM
M said…
Yes but considering this would be a 3 for 2 in my favor, you might not consider it a fair trade. They're all potty trained though, does that help?
7/16/2008 6:10 PM
MaryBeth said…
Be careful, I just might take you up on that offer to trade children... I am having the worst time with my 23 month old triplets sleep habits lately. It seems like we're back to the newborn stage because someone is always up! I'm hoping that 2 year molars come in any day now and we'll get back to sleeping at night, but for now I just might swap with you.
7/19/2008 6:37 PM
Michelle Kemper Brownlow said…
WOW!
I think you live in MY house!

We need to be friends!! LOL! Just to keep each other sane!

Check out my blog - you'll see a parallel!
7/21/2008 10:22 AM
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