Why Do They Say, "Sleep Like a Baby"?!

Remember how I once mentioned that I could only play nine holes of golf before folding up like a cheap suitcase?  Well, with keeping babies overnight it appears my limit is two nights.  Three days of keeping up with their (and my) daily routine and two nights of feedings.  Waking up in the middle of the night was always the worse thing to do when I had my babies in my twenties.  Unfortunately,  I must report that it is still just as terrible in my fifties.  Just this week I have been keeping our youngest grand, Grayson,  who is seven months old.  He still wakes up once in the middle of the night.  Night one I was all over it, jumping up the minute I heard the first whimper.  Hubby actually said I had not lost my "middle of the night barking orders skills" over the years.  I told him to get the bottle ready while I grabbed the baby and changed his diaper.  He said he stood at attention and said, "Yes mam!!"  Night two I never heard the baby cry and when Hubby finally awakened me to go get him,  I was like, "Huh?  What baby?"

Whenever Hubby came in at 5 O'Clock today he found me wrapped up in a blanket on my bed sound asleep.    I heard him calling my name and when I finally came to,  he asked if there was something wrong with me?  "What?  What are you talking about?", I said.  Well, he was wondering why I was in bed asleep at 5 O'Clock.  Hmmm...Let's see; I would have given him an eye roll but my eyes were WAY too tired to make that motion.  That question reminded me of another one I was asked by my mother when I was about 27 years old.  She looked at me one day and said, "You sure do look tired."  The bubble over my head said, "No crap.  I have 4 children ages 6 and under.  I can't imagine WHY in the world I would look tired.  Oh yea...It's probably because I AM tired...(sigh)".

And so, I do understand the need for routine and nap times where babies are concerned.  For mere survival.  Of the parent.  But then for me,  the dilemma becomes:  What will I do while they nap?  Will I catch up on all the laundry and dishes or perhaps even wash my face and brush my teeth?  Or will I attempt to catch a few Z's while they do the same?  Inevitably, I always end up trying to catch up on house work.  And that, my friend, is exactly why I find myself dragging throughout the day and longing for the moment the last feeding is finished so I can collapse into my bed.

Mamas, I'm just going to put it out there.  There are many things that you will miss whenever your child begins to grow up.  However, getting up in the middle of the night is not one of them.  I always forget how difficult this stage is until I have an overnighter with one of the babies and then I remember how much I love my sleep.  I know, I may be sad, sad woman but that's just the truth of the matter.  And by the way...Where did the saying "I'm gonna sleep like a baby" even come from anyway?  It should be I'm NOT gonna sleep like a baby!