I would like to say that I belong to the 0.001% of all mummy population in this world who is not plagued with a kid's sleeping problem. Sadly, I belong to the other side of the spectrum, that is 99.999% of mummies who have to deal with kids who simply refuse to sleep.
I've counted my lucky stars for three years because I've never had major issues with Baby Jayne sleeping at night. She naps once during the day around noontime, and would obediently go to bed at 8.30pm or 9pm every night. It was a bliss for me because that meant that me-time starts by 9pm every night, and that helps me to gain back some sanity for another brand new day. I can often boast of this in front of friends who look at me with envy because they belong to the category who thank God if their kids sleep before midnight.
The tables have been turned. It seems to me that life has to be fair to everyone, and God indeed wants me to taste the bitter part of motherhood. I can't even bear to recall when it all started, but suddenly, Baby Jayne rejects sleep every single night. Now on the average, she sleeps at 11pm. I FEEL LIKE CRYING BUT NO TEARS WOULD COME. IT'S BEEN LIKE THAT FOR WEEKS NOW. MAYBE I AM JUST NUMB. LIKE A POEM EH?
I do know that I need to manage my expectations. Kids sleep later and later as they grow older and older. But for her to swing from 8.30pm to 11pm, and sometimes 12 midnight, I think that was too steep a curve, God.
It started with a few nights of screaming and shouting at her to go to sleep. We would lie on our beds for hours before she would finally drift off to sleep. I felt drained and very unhappy because I was wasting a lot of my time. Eventually, I decided that since she wouldn't sleep anyway, it was no point forcing her to. I started getting her to bed only at 11pm to avoid all unnecessary screaming and heartaches. We all cope with circumstances, don't we?
Now, me-time is totally gone 'cos by the time she is willing to sleep, it's already my bedtime too. I'm praying everyday that it's a passing phase, but it does seem like it's here to stay. Boo. =(
Don't you think it's an irony that when kids have all the time in the world to sleep, they don't treasure it and would try their darnest to stay awake for as many hours as they can? I wish I can tell them in their faces, "WAIT TILL YOU BECOME A MUM! YOU'D WISH YOU CAN SLEEP ALL DAY!!!!"
But they won't get it, will they?
