It's YOUR Turn

Last night, I went into Princess's room to check on her before I went to bed like I always do. Like usual, as I tiptoed past her dresser, Hubby hissed from the doorway, "Get out of there, you're going to wake her up!" And like usual, I shot a glare in a his direction and continued my stealthy trek to the crib to watch Princess sleep peacefully with her tiny derriere up in the air. The hubby just doesn't understand the magnetic pull a sleeping child has on its mother. After watching and chasing said child in raucous endless circles around the house all day, to see her motionless and quiet is mind-boggling and gives the mother a serene calm that will help her sleep peacefully until the race begins again the next morning.

There have been times that, while I tread softly across the baby blue plush carpet in Princess's room, she has sighed loudly or turned over in her sleep. When she does this, my split second reaction is to drop to the floor like a lead balloon and pray that she didn't open her eyes and catch a glimpse of me. I know from experience, that if she does see me in her room, she will be inconsolable if I try to leave without picking her up. That leads to a long night filled with crying and devoid of sleep. And the crying comes from both me and Princess when she refuses to let me put her back in her crib.

Princess was sick yesterday and so she didn't sleep well last night. At 11:34 pm, I got up to give her another dose of infant tylenol. Upon returning to bed, I nudged (okay, punched) my husband into wakefulness to inform him that since I had to get up in the morning and go to work and he did not, Princess was his responsibility for the rest of the night hours.
After my alarm went off this morning and I had hit the snooze button 14 times, I rolled over and poked my husband. "It's just my luck that the night it's your turn to get up with Louise, she sleeps until morning." I grumbled, slightly irritable because I felt that he deserved to know what it felt like to be up 11 times in one night. He glared at me through bleary eyes. "I spent half the night rocking her back to sleep."
Mollified, I got up and got ready for work while Hubby began sawing z's again. Princess's usual MO is to wake up for the day around 8 or 8:30 am so I tried not to feel too sorry for him, knowing that he would get at least another hour of sleep before daddy-duty began. Walking past Princess's room on my way to the bathroom, I glanced in her open door to see two big brown eyes staring at me from between the bars of her crib. I thought perhaps, she would fall back asleep if I just kept going, but that proved to be erroneous. So I went into her room, picked up my crying daughter and gave her a hug and a kiss before plopping her on the bed next to her soon-to-be-awake father.

Let me clarify something though.Princess  is an incredibly good sleeper except for when she's sick. And she always get sick when Hubby has to get up early and go to work and I get to "stay home and relax all day." (His words, not mine!) And so, on the rare occasion that she does get sick when he has the day off, I maybe enjoy my sleep a little too much. Maybe not.

Unsolicited Advice:
When going on a long trip in the car or maybe an airplane, buy some small toys at the dollar store and wrap each one in wrapping paper. For each hour (or half hour, or 7 minutes depending on your child's boredom level), give your child one to open.