Oh, the Joys of Parenting!

By teacherayala · May 17, 2011 · ·
  1. Let me preface this by saying that I am aware that there are joys to parenting. Tonight it just doesn't happen to be raining down the joy.

    I've had very little sleep for about 5 days now. My daughter has an ongoing cough that keeps her awake in the night. Worse than that is the fact that my husband and I have not made the wisest of decisions lately about how to handle her unwillingness to go to bed to begin with. We've been placating her with a couple of ounces of milk in the night, which has now created a habit.

    Result? I'm exhausted. I'm sitting here in front of the computer writing on this blog at 1:30am, knowing full well that my day officially begins at 5:30am. It's off to teaching again for me until I return with more baby duty until 8:30pm.

    She seems to be trying to go to sleep finally, after rocking, singing, and medicines. However, now my ears are tuned in to her coughing and I literally cannot fall asleep as long as I hear the sound. I've turned on the television, hoping that the background noise will drown her out, and now I'm making myself some tea in the hopes that it will help me relax and go to sleep.

    I'm not sure how much longer I can take this sleep schedule. This afternoon I broke down in tears because I was just so dang tired. Pretty much anything can set me off crying after about 4-5 hours a night for a week. I'm definitely not a college student anymore; I simply can't manage my active day without sleep. At least in college I could squeeze in naps in nice, quiet dark rooms alone.

    I wish I had a room to escape to that was absent of snoring, coughing, crying and all manner of distraction. I could stay there for a day or so at least, I think. No fighting for blankets from the hubby and no snoring in my ear would be a nice change of pace.

    And my husband wants to try for #2. <snort> Yeah, right.

Comments

  1. mugen shiyo
    wow. that actually sounds pretty terrible. i've heard some parents take shifts- one parent staying up one night, and the other another...i hope my kids come out of the womb eighteen years old

    lmao...classic. i had to laugh at that one. even though it's out of context and implies the very opposite of your sincere concerns, it has Homer Simpson written all over it
  2. Trish
    All I can say is.... this too shall pass. I know, I know. Shut up, bitch, you say, lol. It's true though. It seems like a lifetime. The milk thing? Wait until the weekend, then stop giving it to her. Refuse. Deny. Flat out, NO. Will she cry? Yep. Will you sleep? Nope. But by Monday you should be good again. Same goes for naps, btw. Naps get the same rules as bedtime. As far as the cough, I don't know what the weather is like in Panama but have you tried a humidifier with meds (like Vicks makes a medicated liquid that goes in some humidifiers)? she can take her regular meds and use that too and probably will sleep the most sound she has in a week :D
  3. teacherayala
    Thanks, Trish, and I will see about the humidifier. My husband and I have already talked about getting one for her. I think her issues may be more allergy-related, but the air conditioners sure don't help the situation. Panama is warm and humid all of the time, but inside the air conditioners can make the air cold and dry. I wear sweaters to work because I work in an air conditioned classroom that feels like winter! And over the weekend, I'll definitely take your advice!

    @Mugen: I think I've seen that episode. Homer Simpson says something like, "and then we discovered television!" and then the kids are all sitting in front of the television. Coincidentally enough, I was indeed watching the Simpsons at the time. lol!
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