I FORGOT HOW TERRIBLE IT IS TO SLEEP BADLY.
I complained about Minnie's fractured sleep for literal YEARS. Then she started sleeping like a person, and I just sort of instantly took my full nights for granted like I had learned nothing from the struggle-. THEN SHE GOT SICK, and now I am a zombie.
BAH.
She feels ok except her mouth still hurts she says. What if she has hand foot mouth (something we have escaped thus far) on top of strep? I might take her back to the ped today, if only because Harry's pericarditis started after a bout of strep when he was 6. (Although, ultimately, docs decided there wasn't a link and took his off his prophylactic penicillin? The whole thing remains unsettling). She ate NONE of her lunch at school yesterday, but when she got home, she drank 20 ounces of milk, so that's something.
(Actually, I felt like a jerk sending her to school but she really wanted to go, was fever free for more than 24 hours, had 72 hours of antibiotics under her belt, etc.)
Remembering the Harry link made me feel way better, I must say, about my own anxiety this week. NO WONDER I GET WORRIED.
She accessorized with her first day of school name tag that she has been keeping taped to her desk at home because 3 year-olds are SO WEIRD.
It is much much harder to be a parent of a preschooler in my mid-40s than it was in my late 20s or early 30s. OR EVEN LATE 30s. With Dorothy, I was 37 when she was Minnie's age, and at the time THAT felt so much harder than turning 29 with toddler Harry. But this? OMG.
So many things are easier, though, so it's a win ultimately.
Oh, man. We have moved up our alarm clock time half an hour and IT IS KILING ME. I am exhausted all the time. I literally have no idea how parents do it when they are being awakened multiple times at night and then get up super early. I'm so sorry for your sleepiness!
ReplyDeleteI have only known parenting as an older parent! I had Paul at 37 and Will just shy of 40. We firmly believe that parenting is a young man's game. I do not have the energy to deal with sleep deprivation. Luckily sleep is in a much better place. But when both boys had chronic ear infections it was AWFUL. We were up with them 3-5 times/night. It was horrific and I can see why sleep deprivation is a torture device.
ReplyDeleteI hope Minnie is feeling better and eating better. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop in our house. Taco does seem to have dad's amazing immune system, though. Paul appears to have mine. Poor kid.
Parenting the littles is definitely a young person’s game. One of my few memories from labor is reflecting on how much easier it would have been ten years earlier. However! Now I am 50 and have a fifth grader. This I can do. Except for once or twice a year when he gets sick and all our sleep still goes to crap.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that sounds SO difficult. I had undiagnosed sleep apnea when my littles were little, and if they hadn't been good sleepers I might have just died dead. But this sounds really unpleasant and stressful. I hope it improves radically soon. (You are not a bad mom for sending her to school. You are not overreacting. You are doing everything right and the situation is crappy).
ReplyDeleteI love that Minnie has had a sticky name tag saved for three months and I would love to see her adorable desk! I'm sorry for the sleep deprivation and hope Minnie feels and sleeps better and you do too.
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