I don’t like to admit it, but I think the more my son sleeps, the better I like him. Or maybe appreciate is the right word.
Don’t get me wrong–I enjoy spending time with my 16-month-old. But the longer he naps, the longer of a break I get, and the more well rested we both are. And that makes being together all day long much more pleasant.
I don’t expect much–my son has never been a great sleeper. He rarely naps for more than an hour and a half. Every day I tell myself I’d be happy with just one hour–if he naps longer than that, it’s a bonus. The problem is that there are so many things that can potentially wake him up–a helicopter, a screaming cat, a car alarm–that I find it hard to actually relax when he’s sleeping. Instead of enjoying my precious “me time,” I pace back and forth in front of the windows cursing people under my breath.
“What could he possibly have to deliver that’s so important?” I hiss when I see the UPS delivery man groan his truck to a noisy halt in front of the neighbor’s house. (My son loves trucks and seems to be able to hear them from miles away—it wouldn’t surprise me if he could sense one approaching in his sleep.)
“Does anyone have a tranquilizer?” I moan when I hear a dog bark for the millionth time.
“Control your kids!” I think when I see a woman with two screaming grade-schoolers trailing behind her–just below my son’s room.
On the weekends when my husband is around, I’m sure he feels like a prisoner in his own home.
“How could you do that?” I say in a scream-whisper when he innocently drops a dirty fork into the sink. “Don’t you realize how loud a sound that makes?”
I’ve even sent my husband into the streets to confront noisemakers head on–like the time I asked him to see if the construction crew drilling the sidewalk in front of our apartment could take a break. They said no, of course.
For the most part, however, none of these noises actually seem to disturb my son’s sleep, which is what makes the whole process so agonizing (on top of the fact that there’s not much I can do about it anyway). He likely won’t wake up (though he has on occasion, which is what fuels my insanity), but I can’t keep from freaking out anyway. Maybe I just need to take a nap myself when my son goes to sleep?
Too late for that today, though. He just woke up after only 55 minutes…maybe the sound of my typing was too loud?
