Zombies in the Night

Cassie has been up just about every single night this week. I think I managed to get to work on time just one day out of the week. Luckily, I am able to sneak in through the back door that leads to my office so most of the time no one even finds out how late I really am. I just smile and pretend like I've been at work since 7:30 a.m. I thought I was doing okay by getting to bed before my usual time of midnight last night. I think it was even before 11:00 p.m. but I wouldn't be able to tell you for sure because the time on my alarm clock is set a few minutes ahead so I never really know the exact time. Just a tool I like to use to trick myself in the mornings in the hopes of actually getting up on time, but do you think it works? [Chris just thinks I’m crazy.] Sometime after 12:30 a.m. I awoke to the sound of Cassie’s cry on the monitor. The motherly instincts programmed in me sprung me out of bed and into her room. I found her sitting up in her crib hugging Lollie. I rocked her back to sleep and got back to bed. A little while later, that same cry drove me out of bed again. Except this time as I was making a dash to Cassie’s room, I passed up a very familiar face, the other zombie that lives with me, Chris. He beat me to her this time. I think he feels bad because I work all day, but yet I feel bad because I know he's at home with her all day and well, he needs a break too. It was hard for my eyes to focus since they were half shut as I passed him, so it wasn’t until I sat back in the rocking chair when I realized that was Chris I had just passed up in the hallway. I rocked and I rocked and I rocked….isn’t it funny how any other time of day the time just drags but at night when all you want to do is get back to bed the minutes just seem to fly by? The alarm clock read 3:04 a.m. by the time I made it back to bed. And not even a little bit later, that same cry came over the monitor again. I had two words for Chris: “your turn.” I just couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t have one bit of energy left in me. My eyes hurt, my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and I couldn’t muster the strength to get back out of bed once more….I was just too tired. A few minutes later I opened one eye just enough to see Chris place a very wide awake Cassie into our bed. At this point, we’re desperate and just want need some sleep. I finally force myself to wake up and get ready for work when I look over and Cassie is sound asleep, her body laying opposite of ours, and snuggled against her Papa’s leg. This parenting is hard stuff, but mix in teething and a tad of separation anxiety and it’s just that much harder. But I still adore my little Bear, even when she is a pain.