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Awake before the Early Bird

Posted by on June 25, 2012

I went to bed at 2am because I stayed up trying to get things done around the house. And because I waited on the phone for 90 minutes for customer service-that was supposed to be 24 hours-to answer. No one ever did answer. For 90 minutes I listened to the same lousy easy-listening music. It repeated the same 8 notes 5 times, then, at a slower tempo, played those 8 notes more emphatically on the piano so the listener could REALLY get the horrible tune stuck in their head. It worked. Migraine-level headache and the song looping through my head for another hour. I turned on the TV to help get rid of the song and the show playing was BARNEY! Seriously? Quickly hitting the power button, I resorted to singing Disney Jr. songs to kick the ,pre annoying tune out of my brain. 

I can’t get things cleaned up during the day because my 4 year old requires my full attention. 5 minutes unsupervised can be disastrous. Last occurrence was a wall full of colorful marker drawings. The wall had been freshly painted. 

3:30am…I am awakened by a dripping sound. I sit up and listen. Yes, I definitely hear a dripping sound. I spring out of bed and discover there is water dripping from the ceiling. It can only mean one thing: Wally’s daughter is in the bathroom with the water on. I run upstairs and find Wally’s daughter sitting on the bathroom counter with her feet in the sink, water running. The floor is soaking wet with what must be 10 gallons of water. I send her to her room and begin damage control. I go downstairs and gather a bunch of towels. One minute later I’m upstairs and I discover Ella with her hair detangler, lid off, the entire full bottle now poured out on her bed, stuffed animal, and floor. She just wanted to brush the (stuffed animal) Chicken’s hair. Scolding, removing detangler bottle, re-occupying Ella with something less destructive, then on to the water works clean up….

While I am cleaning, Ella draws a beautiful rose garden for me. trying make me happy. I tell her it’s beautiful and I love her, but I am very unhappy still about the mess and about her being awake playing in the middle of the night. . 

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Towels put in the washer, dehumidifier brought into the bathroom….Ella is hungry. “Can I please just have a little, tiny night-time snack? Okay, she probably really is hungry. I only gave her hummus and crackers, cottage cheese, and fruit for dinner. I need to feed my daughter a little better.

So now it’s 4:45. Ella is eating her night-time snack of a peanut butter and honey sandwich, milk, and a banana. She really was hungry. The birds are beginning to chirp their morning song. All I want to do is sleep but I know I will have to wait until Ella is completely asleep before I leave her room. Otherwise who knows what further mischief she will find. 

I am writing this so that tomorrow…or maybe next week…or maybe next year, I can laugh. This is a scenario I never imagined would happen, especially not with a 4 year old. When I was up half the night with an infant I thought, “Well, at least in a year or so I won’t be awake all through the night.” Too bad I was wrong…(Don’t tell any first-time parent of a newborn!)

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