Sleep Deprivation Revisited

I've written about this numerous times already, but I am going to do it again. Last night, I stayed up way too late watching basketball. They're killing me with the double overtime! It was almost midnight before I finally crawled into my bed. At some point during the night, Sophie ended up in our bed. I woke up around 3am to find Sophie's head down by my knees and her legs sprawled out in a most un-ladylike fashion...one in my ear and the other on the back of Ruanita's head. I turned her around so her head was on my pillow (I so hate sharing my pillow!), but did not have the energy to carry her back downstairs to her bed. Therein lies my problem.

Last night at our ECFE class, I had another parent tell me a fact that I am well aware of. Sophie is not going to stop getting into our bed at night until we begin refusing her. I know this. I absolutely believe it is true. I realize that we created this problem and we can only remedy the situation by standing firm. We need to walk her back down to her bed each and every single time she tries to get into our bed. That other mom is 100% correct. However, that is SO much easier said than done.

Lately, Sophie has been getting into our bed on Ruanita's side. Half the time, I do not even realize she is in our bed until I get a good solid smack in the face. By then, I have no idea how long she's been in our bed and she is dead asleep again. Unfortunately, with all of her thrashing around, the mommies are getting no sleep. However, her bedroom is all the way downstairs. Those stairs seem incredibly daunting at 3am. Regardless of the kicking and smacking, getting out of a comfortable warm bed to carry her downstairs...knowing full well that she will back within a matter of minutes....does not seem like a very desirable thing to do in the middle of the night. So...I just lay there tossing and turning, cursing my daughter. Cursing the situation we've created. Cursing the clock that is moving too quickly toward morning. Cursing the cat who wants in on the action. Cursing the back of Ruanita's head. Needless to say, after all of that silent cursing, I do not wake up well-rested in the morning.

I've tried moving to Sophie's bed myself...just declaring defeat and forfeiting my bed to her. My thought was that I would at least get a little bit of sleep if I moved to her bed. Bad idea. When we bought Sophie's "big-girl" bed, we kind of skimped on the mattress. The child weighs 30 pounds soaking wet...what need did she have for a mattress with actual support? We bought the cheapest mattress the store had. Great for a 30-pound child...not so good for mommy who weighs six times that! It was like sleeping on a piece of plywood. In addition to the unyielding mattress, the cat assumed I was getting up to feed her because I had walked downstairs. So she spent the rest of the evening licking my nose as punishment for my alleged snubbing of her breakfast. All in all, sleeping in Sophie's bed was a pretty hellish experience.

So how does one find the motivation to do what is right, rather than what is easy? Actually, sleeping with Sophie is NOT easy....it's simply the lesser of two evils in the wee hours of morning. I need to find the motivation to do what needs to be done for both Sophie AND her mommies. I need to find the strength within. Unfortunately....being sleep deprived does not exactly lend itself to inner strength. Grrrr.