Xander has seasons where he goes to bed like a champ and other where he is coming out 2-6 times stalling to go to bed. Currently we are in the latter season. He can be absolutely exausted but still will stall in going to be. "When will you go to bed?" "If you stay up then I can stay up!" "I am not tired." "I just need to tell you something." "I just want to give you a hug and kiss." "My room is too hot (at 65 deg). These are all of Xander's standard excuses. Last night was no exception. When this happens we usually threaten to put or actually put a lock on his door. Then he throws a horrific fit for 15 min, the lock is removed and he almost always stays in after that. Although it is a successful process it is annoying and drags out bedtime. Some nights we are more patient with this process. Last night was not one of those and he ended up in the closet for time out which he fell asleep in less then 2 minutes.
Xander is also in a pattern of waking up 1-2 times a night crying from dreams or random requests. These also fluctuate cyclically and they are currently bad. Again last night was no exception. However the end result was really weird. So at 12:30 am he woke up crying. I was in REM or something because it was so painful to drag myself out of that bed. Once I got up there he was crying saying, "why is everyones underwear twisted?"
Q "Did you have a bad dream buddy?"
X "No! Why is everyones underwear twisted?"
Q "I don't know sweetie. Lets go back to bed."
X "Yes you do. Tell me!
This is a bad sign. If he denies a bad dream and wants a question answered and my first answer is not satisfactory then we are dealing with an anal unrational kid on the search for a very specific answer who will not stop until he gets it. He can do this during the day it can take 5-15 mins to resolve and may end up an a full tantrum. Needless to say it is annoying even at my full rested best self. At night with a tired Mommy it is a recipe to disaster.
Q "They are twisted because of the wind." Easiest way out of this is to play the game - but I only have one guess in me.
X "No that is not it."
Q "Then why are they twisted Xander?"
X "Well, who is wearing underwear?"
I got sucked into this painful conversation for a few minutes until I saw no easy way out and my fatigue clock struck and "desperate for sleep Mom" came out. (=Grumpy) When this happens my problem solving skills go into the toilet and the only things I can think of to solve these sort of problems is super glueing Xanders lips shut and the like. So I declared myself an unfit parent and tag teamed Ryan in. (By now it was 1:30am so I gave it my best.) He was working the next day so I try to avoid at all costs waking him which is why Xander couldn't just cry it out. However after waking Ryan that was the only solution we could come up with. So I walked in, told Xander that Daddy said he could just cry it out, and put the lock on the door. Of course Xander began screaming and kicking the door. Luckily we have a dehumidifier that makes some excellent white noise.
At 2:30am I woke up and checked on Xander. He was crying still and I almost went in because it was so sad. But then he began kicking the door again and nothing destroys sympathy faster then a good old door kicking session. So I walked away.
Then I woke up at 4am. I went to check on him and his lights were on. I assumed he would be asleep on the floor were he was protesting. I opened the door. He was pleasant, calm, cooperative and AWAKE!
Q "What are you doing?"
X "I am trying to get the lock off."
Q " Have you been awake this whole time."
X "Yes."
Q "You need to go to bed!"
X "Then take off my lock."
Terrified about the next day I took the lock off and he finally went to bed.
What the flibity-gibit! This can't be normal. That kid can get crazy hyper-focused. Are we just dealing with extreme stubbornness here or is this something else?
2 comments:
It is overboard, but Abby has really similar problems. She cycles in and out, but she'll sing to herself until midnight even when she's exhausted. Last night, I opened the door to find she was systematically ripping all of the pages from one of her favorite books.
Our kids have all gone through good sleep, bad sleep cycles. It really is almost impossible to be a calm, patient mother under those conditions. I'm impressed you can remember the conversation so well!
Post a Comment