Wake-up Calls

For some god-awful reason, my kids have decided this week that 5AM was a perfectly good wake-up time. I disagree. "Dark Outside" is never a good wake-up time.

Perhaps their little bodies have accelerated the circadian rhythms - they are ready and waiting for it to be 6AM now instead of a few weeks from now when we change our clocks. Perhaps I should embrace this as an opportunity to spend a little more time with them. But when I hear a DS playing "Star Wars: Battlefront" at 5AM, I am wondering how one can secretly dismantle a DS, not feeling joy at seeing their little faces.

We've always tried to have a rule that they can come into mom and dad's room as soon as it's light out, and I'm the enforcer. Hubby, on the other hand, could care less (if he wakes up for it, that is). It's not that I'm opposed to them crawling into my bed for a snuggle, but that's not what happens. As soon as they are in our room, sleep is over. 6-year-old G brings in his DS and I have to tell him to turn down the volume (why did we get him that?). 4-year-old E will give some good snuggling, but we are struggling with her thumb-sucking and I cannot relax if I am constantly saying, "No thumb." And 2-yead-old V wants to be a mountain climber. She is all over the bed, her newfound voice constantly chattering. Which is cute any other time than 5AM.

So I drag myself out of bed to shuffle them back to their rooms. I show them the window - see? No sun! Back to bed! And as I walk back to my room, I get the dreaded, "I have to go potty" from V. Since this is a new skill for her, she needs a little assistance. Again, the ambivalence. So happy she's out of diapers but wow, a pull-up would have been helpful right about now. By the time we are back in her room, and everyone's back in bed, it's 5:15.

I should be able to go back to sleep but I can hear them talking. Chit chat. Tinkerbell-Star Wars-babydolls-fort building-plotting chatter. I can make them go back to their rooms, but I can't make them go back to sleep. And I can't sleep knowing they are awake. I am plotting - spike tonight's milk with benedryl? Eye shades for toddler? They don't care though...ready to start their day, they are.

Today, I think I was able to grab about 10 extra minutes sleep before I gave up on it. And when I encountered them all for the first time today, I must say...that fort was pretty impressive. Now if only they would sleep in it.