Jul 30 2008
Insomnia
Friends wonder how I get everything done -- my writing gigs and blogs, the massive amount of volunteer work I do, the charter school, my mom's club, and the usual daily mama stuff of running a household, getting errands done, and taking my kids to playgroups, school and activities. I find time to read books, cook dinner from scratch, and keep up with the laundry, too.
Well, I'm very organized and work quickly. Yet, I have one big secret to success --insomnia. There's nothing like waking up at 3 a.m., booting up my laptop, and getting some tasks done. By the time the kids are awake (and since Nathan's an early riser that means 6 a.m.) I've been able to plan the week's menus and shopping list, or write up a couple of blog posts, or maybe finish reading a book or a couple of magazines. There's nothing like a few hours of uninterrupted quiet to get things done.
But these days that's becoming rare. Occasionally Nathan will come downstairs at 4 or 5 a.m. and interrupt my muse. Still, I'm able to quickly march him back upstairs, persuading him to go back to bed and get some sleep because he has school in the morning.
But today, as I closed my bedroom door dressed in my slippers and robe, armed with my iPod, book and glasses, I heard a little voice coming from the living room, "Hi mommy. I'm down here! I'm hungry." At 4:30 a.m., I found Lucie lying on the couch in the dark holding her blankie. According to her, she had been down there awhile and was waiting for me to come down and feed her.
After setting her up on the couch with food, blankets and the TV turned down low (thank goodness for PBS Kids Sprout which is on 24/7) I went into the kitchen to make a mug of tea. A few minutes later, Lucie wandered in requesting juice and water, and complaining that her arm hurt. Thinking that "sleeping funny" on her arm may have woken her up in the first place, I grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and got Lucie settled back down on the couch.
I started to write, but was interrupted by Lucie freaking out over spilling peach yogurt on her pajama top. Grabbing a dish towel, I cleaned up the minor mess, and got her resituated with blankets, sippy cups, yogurt, and pillows.
The interruptions kept coming -- her PJ bottoms were falling down, she was done with the yogurt, the pillow was wet, and so on. What was the point having productive insomnia when I kept getting interrupted? It might as well have been the middle of the day for all the work I was getting done.
Still, it was fun being awake with Lucie in the wee hours of the morning. There's something magical about hearing the birds singing as the sun comes up. I was fascinated how they kept tune with the Sesame Street theme song coming from the TV, too. Sunny day, indeed.