Death by Daylight Savings

We had a blast with our friends last weekend, but we stayed up way late every night they were here. Friday night at Disneyland was a record breaker. I think it was 11:30 when we finally got to our car. After spending the afternoon and evening at the beach on Saturday, we took just the adults to our favorite local Chinese restaurant for a late dinner. (Chloe's Shrimp and Shrimp with Candied Walnuts are my personal favorites! Check out the menu.) And even though we left our stellar twelve year old daughters in charge, no one was asleep when we got home. (Not that we thought they would be . . .) Then the unwelcome surprise of Sunday morning came: daylight savings switch back.

It's nice of "them" to make it on a weekend so everyone can supposedly have a day to adjust before the shock of going back to school and work on Monday morning, but for parents of young children this adjustment can take much longer than a day or two.

Five days in and the house is just now quiet at 10:23pm. I'm going slowly out of my mind.

Rachael is in a really bad cycle right now where she sleeps in late, doesn't want to nap while Elizabeth is at afternoon kindergarten, but then falls asleep in the car as I'm driving around after school. As a result - wonder of wonders! - she won't go to bed at night until I'm so crabby and tired I just retreat to my cave while Superdad finally gets her settled. (Since he's so fresh and perky after his 12 hour day at the hospital! Actually sometimes he is, which is comforting in an annoying kind of way.) Rachael has also really developed a TEMPER on top of this unfortunate ability to resist sleep. She is a full blown two year old and I am burning out. I don't know WHAT Jim Bob and Michelle are taking, but I need some tonight!

It's now 10:38 and Will just came in to say he still can't sleep and I hear Rachael talking again in her crib. Insanity coming on slowly and silently.

I am the kind of person that requires at least a smidge of quiet brain time to myself every day. (Doesn't everybody?) And while I've learned to give up a whole lot of "me time" as a mother (especially with each additional child), I still need some.

I know the sensible thing to do is to wake them all up early tomorrow morning so they'll be good and tired tomorrow night, but let me tell you how excited I am to go to bed right now only to get up bright and early to forcefully wake the little buggars out of a deep sleep and endure a nice, long day of fatigue induced crabbiness all in the name of getting back on track. But if I DON'T, it's status quo.

It's 10:55 now and she's started calling for me. What a vicious, vicious cycle. Do you know how long she napped today? 30 minutes. That's it. 30. Minutes. It's not normal. Is there caffeine in Juicy Juice now? WHAT IS GOING ON!?

And that's why I ABHOR, LOATHE, DETEST, and DESPISE Daylight Savings.