Random Musings

I have not had enough to make up a whole blog post without beginning to feel like I am a broken record (the MP is awesome, he makes my life awesome, he is loved, he is funny, etc) but I do have some recent unrelated stories to share:

The MP (much like his mother) has benchmarks by which he measures his personal highlight reel up to this point. He spent his Winter Break with his Grandparents and went to see two movies in two days. I commented that getting to do that was living the life. He informed me that ‘living the life’ was the time he got to take a bath and drink an orange soda at the same time. Um.. ok. So last night he needed to take a bath so I suggested that he get his reading in (he has to read a certain number of minutes a month outside of school) and have a nice soak. Once he was in the tub, I brought him an orange soda. He then sat in the tub for a half an hour. Now, I am an extended soaker. I overfill the tub and have to refill at least twice to warm the water up (reading half a book or five british magazines is not unheard of in one of these marathon sessions). But the MP is more of an in and out of kind of guy. Wash the body and the hair and he is out. So this extra long bath last night required me to check in on him several times. He came out with his book and orange soda and a big grin on his face. I knew he would come around to my way of thinking on the topic of baths someday. Glad it was sooner rather than later.

The braces continue to be a bit of a challenge. His gums are big and his teeth are small so his gums sit almost on top of the braces which make them a little red and swollen. This wasn’t an issue in the first three visits to the orthodontist but the last visit was scheduled the same day as a teeth cleaning. This resulted in a nasty letter from the orthodontist threatening to remove the braces if he doesn’t clean up his act. Now, according to my calculations, he should be getting his braces off at his next appointment anyway so all the idle threats did was make me angry. And want to bad mouth (pun intended) the dentist to everyone who needs one in the future. And let’s be honest, they were not criticizing how the MP takes care of his braces but how I take care of his braces. I am the one that brushes them, uses a special flosser for the electric toothbrush and dances around the bathroom for 30 seconds to distract him from the nasty rinse he has to swish. And I do this twice a day. This resulted in a less than stellar report from MY dentist and the state of my teeth. To which I said “whatever I am so over you people and teeth at this point..” I don’t think they were impressed.

The MP is one of those kids that has never had issues with sleep. He doesn’t seem to need as much as the recorded average of his given age (when he was a baby he was supposed to sleep 20 hours a day. No one mentioned it would be in 15 minute increments with his eyes open). When he moved from crib to toddler bed, he was good about it. No wandering around in the middle of the night. When he went from toddler bed to regular bed similar situation: smooth transition. And I am sure this was helped by my HORRIBLE parenting habit of lying with him and reading him a story until he fell asleep. I know it is against all good mothering to do such things (“What if he goes to college and needs you next to him to fall asleep???”) well guess what? I don’t have to keep him company anymore and furthermore, many nights he puts himself to bed. Doesn’t create too much drama around bedtime and gets up in the morning in good spirits. Yes, I know I suck. I have heard horror stories about new beds and weeks without a good night’s sleep from my mommy friends.

But please don’t assume this has made me bright and eyed and bushy tailed. I have my own issues with the sandman. I am a horrible sleeper. Here is an average night: I take a sleeping pill and am asleep by 10. I then sleep until 3. From 3 until the time I get up (usually 6:30 during the week) I sleep 20 minutes at time and wake up. Am awake for 5-10 minutes and repeat until I need to get up. This means I am always tired. Always. Even if I go to bed earlier, I only sleep consistently for 5 hours. The only time I am not tired is on the weekend when I can sleep later (in 20 minute increments) an/or take a nap. I have been to the sleep clinic, I have tried every sleeping pill known to mankind, I have a set routine, I do relaxation techniques, and prayed repeatedly to the patron saint of good sleep. This is the way it will be until the MP goes to college probably. I was a great sleeper before becoming his Mom but now I sleep with one eye open even when heavily medicated. Which is fine. I wouldn’t trade him for a good night’s sleep.

So this all relates to the involuntary space experiment we had last night. At 2:35 (that is 25 minutes before I normally wake up) the MP was at our door. He had a nightmare and wanted to come in. I groggily suggested I go with him to his room and keep him company until he fell asleep, knowing I would wake up next to a giant Nemo on the bottom bunk. But he had already climbed into our bed and was under the covers. Now, Scott is a slender fella. And I (while not slim) am of normal size. We have a California Queen bed (bigger than a Queen, smaller than a King and it is a sleep number bed. When sleep is elusive you will try ANYTHING to get more of it) which fits both of us nicely with extra room in the middle. But this bed is not big enough for three, at least not to all lay on their backs or fronts. So I spent the rest of the night with my hand on the MP’s arm (to let him know I was there) and laying on my side. At least he didn’t kick and punch like he did when he was little. But it was a tight squeeze and I am extra tired today. Three in the bed was just one too many. Next time I will just get up and go sleep with the Nemo anyway I think. Scott, bless him, got up on time, got the MP up and let me sleep an extra 20 minutes for my troubles. Hopefully tonight will be a little less eventful.