Up All Night

I don’t know if you are aware of this but I cherish sleepy time.  Michael can operate on 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night but I need a solid 8 hours.  9 is even better.  When Eva was a newborn I would cry in the evenings because I couldn’t bear the idea of another night without sleep.  I love sleep so much that I get angry when I have to get up before everyone else in the house.  Thankfully this doesn’t happen often.  Sometimes I feel self-conscious that my husband is an early riser yet I detest setting the alarm for anything pre-7:00.  Whenever these feelings sneak in I just roll over and go back to sleep.  The guilt is fleeting that way.
 
Early this morning, when it was still dark outside, I was jolted awake by a little person standing next to my bed exclaiming, “Good morning!”  She was about an inch from my nose and I thought for a moment that Chucky had arrived to slay me.  Eva is very lucky I am not a violent person because this arousal was worthy of a punch in the teeth.  I was very tired any only partway through my requisite 8 hours so I quickly dragged her into bed with us and told her to go to sleep.  Sleep, she did not.  She kept shouting, “Good morning Mama, Good morning Daddy!”  She tried to snuggle up next to Michael and he instantly lunged out of bed and went into the guest bedroom.  I was secretly hoping he would return Eva to her own room but he didn’t take the bait. It was every man for himself and I was left in the foxhole with chatty-chatterton.

Eva kept talking and asking me questions as if it really was morning outside.  I kept telling her it was still nighttime and to go to sleep but she completely ignored me.   I really wanted her out of my bed but I didn’t have the fortitude to remove her.  My laziness was hindering my ability to get back to sleep.  It seems counterintuitive but there I was.  At one point Eva asked in a loud voice, “Do you like Dora?”  I responded with a calming, “Shhhhh.”  She then whispered back, “Do you like Dora?”  That’s not what I meant by Shhhhh.

She wouldn’t stop chatting.  I gave up and rolled over with my back to her.  I awoke a couple of hours later with Eva’s head crammed in my side and her arms flopped over my body.  She was sound asleep and looked very peaceful.  I watched her for a moment then I did what any normal, emotionally mature person would do.  I put my face an inch from her nose and shouted, “Good morning Eva!”

I feel much better now.