The Bedtime Blues

Scene: A wizened old blues man sitting on a bench on a front porch. It's a humid night in the bayou. As the crickets chirp, and the soft wind blows, the man begins to sing. Cue music:

(Ba dum da dum)
Gonna sing you a song
(Ba dum da dum)
'Bout the bedtime blues
(Ba dum da dum)
'Bout two little boys, who don't want to follow the rules.

Oooo, well they not sleeping
And Mama is weeping
And Daddy he don't, well he don't know what to do.

Yeah we all, we all, we all
Got the bedtime blues

Usually, I leave the musical expression to my husband, but I felt that there was no better way to express the hell that our current sleep issues are than to sing the blues.

We've always had sleep issues in our house. We co-slept with Elwood and from that point on, one of the four of us usually sleep poorly - usually, me or Todd.

Over the summer, we got Elwood to sleep in his bed by himself for a WHOLE MONTH. He was rewarded with a trip to the water park and we thought "Ah, one down, one to go."

Not so much .

We have days, even whole weeks at a time, where he wants to go to bed "like a big boy" and he does it just fine. But soon enough, he "needs" somebody to lay down with him or I find it easier to lay down with both boys rather than try and get them down separately. Any progress we make goes right down the tubes.

The last few nights have been particularly bad, however, and Todd and I are at a loss.

One or both of the boys have been up til 11:00 p.m. or so for the last several nights. And when I say up, I don't mean fighting sleep while cuddled up watching a Disney movie. I mean running, jumping, jabbering insanity. Elwood becomes "Chatty Cathy" around 9:30 or so and doesn't stop.

And then there's Finn's temper tantrums. They are partly due to the speech delay and his frustration. They are also partly related to him being the reincarnation of Genghis Khan. He is turning into a little bully and when he doesn't get what he wants, when he wants it, he's sure to let you know his displeasure. Those kick in as soon as you try to make him lie down.

I don't quite know what to do. I'm hoping that whatever has gotten into them passes soon. I'm not sure how much more of this we can take.

Until then, I guess I'll be singing the blues.

Or crying in the fetal position under my desk at work.

(Ba dum da dum)