Schedule Deviation
Sleep is important in children. It helps with their mental development. It keeps the kids in an acceptable mood. It gives me time to watch TV. For these reasons, I keep the kids on a highly precise sleep schedule. I constantly refine this schedule through diligent observation of the kids’ behavior. How long can I make them sleep? What time of day do they start melting down? How many times has Abbie kicked her brothers in this wake period?
The schedule mostly goes to waste when we travel. I’d like to keep them on the regular schedule, but there are too many things keeping them awake. They don’t sleep well in weird places. Guests would rather see the kids when they’re whiny and irritable than let me regale them in peace with stories about the kids while they nap. It’s impossible to make a child sleep in a car. It’s also impossible to make a child stay awake in the car, no matter how loud you turn up the Sesame Street DVD.
For this reason, our weekend trip didn’t go as smoothly as it could have. We had several things in our favor. The car ride was only 90 minutes. We rented a house for the kids to run/crawl around in peace. The house had a few never-before-seen toys for the twins to enjoy, and some mostly intact books for Abbie to rip.
The house was a charming old craftsman style home, which is real estate speak for “drafty.” It was also twice the size of our current home with the ballyhooed “third bedroom” our children have heard so much about. We could finally separate the children into “one nap-a-day” and “two naps-a-day” rooms, allowing them to sleep and wake up at their leisure without worry that someone will squawk the house awake far before the standard wake time.
Ellie and I picked the largest bedroom for us, gave Abbie the room with the least amount of stuff to destroy, and put the boys in the third room. Abbie’s and our rooms were at the ends of the house on the outskirts of the heat vents on a cold and windy night. Ellie and I compensate by leaving our bedroom door open, allowing warm air from the living room. We couldn’t leave Abbie’s door open, though, or else we might find the house awoken by the living room television at 2am, 4am, and 6am. Abbie’s room was therefore cold all night. I worried that she would have trouble sleeping all night, especially in the thin pajamas I foolishly brought for her. Instead she fell asleep quickly that night, and stayed asleep.
At least she stayed asleep until 45 minutes before her wake time, at which point she awoke screaming. I rolled out of bed, got a head start on breakfast, and gave thanks that the boys were still asleep.
The rest of the morning went well. Abbie was in a good mood despite the shortage of sleep and potential hypothermia. The boys continued sleeping until their normal wake time, and took a good morning nap.
We drove home after lunch, and that’s where the schedule fell apart. I had planned to travel a few miles before turning on the DVD player so Abbie wouldn’t have to watch reruns on the way home, but Abbie fell asleep before we hit the next town, well before her scheduled naptime. I had hoped to let her nap the entire ride home, but an ill-timed stoplight a few towns over woke her. The boys did something within their rear-facing car seats, but I couldn’t see when they were napping and when they were fighting Abbie to get their toys back. They were quiet the entire trip, and that was the important thing, especially since Abbie was not happy when she woke up 45 minutes from home.
Back home I let the kids play while unloading the car and wondering how the scheduled afternoon nap would go. Was Abbie’s short car nap long enough to let her refuse to take a regular nap? Did the boys sleep too much in the car? When could I watch the shows I recorded while out of town? I let everyone stay awake until they were too irritable to handle, which was an hour past the regular naptime. Then I set everyone down for a nap and hoped for the best, especially since everyone was back in the same room.
45 minutes later I let Abbie out of the room. Not that she had just woken up; she never fell asleep. She was now making too much noise for her brothers to sleep. A few minutes later, I pulled Ian out of the room since Abbie woke him up, or maybe he never fell asleep either. Regardless, he was awake and wanted the same freedom Abbie had connived. Tory stayed asleep until his normal wake time, and earned a gold star for the day.
The rest of the night was difficult as two children whined from lack of sleep, and the third whined from sympathy. I made it through by concentrating on the kids, and ignoring the chores that piled up over the weekend. By bedtime the kids were almost inconsolable, and complained heavily before falling asleep. After everyone quieted down, I wound down by watching a little television. I finished one episode before Ian woke up screaming. A little acetaminophen, and he was back to sleep, and I was back to the couch.
The schedule mostly goes to waste when we travel. I’d like to keep them on the regular schedule, but there are too many things keeping them awake. They don’t sleep well in weird places. Guests would rather see the kids when they’re whiny and irritable than let me regale them in peace with stories about the kids while they nap. It’s impossible to make a child sleep in a car. It’s also impossible to make a child stay awake in the car, no matter how loud you turn up the Sesame Street DVD.
For this reason, our weekend trip didn’t go as smoothly as it could have. We had several things in our favor. The car ride was only 90 minutes. We rented a house for the kids to run/crawl around in peace. The house had a few never-before-seen toys for the twins to enjoy, and some mostly intact books for Abbie to rip.
The house was a charming old craftsman style home, which is real estate speak for “drafty.” It was also twice the size of our current home with the ballyhooed “third bedroom” our children have heard so much about. We could finally separate the children into “one nap-a-day” and “two naps-a-day” rooms, allowing them to sleep and wake up at their leisure without worry that someone will squawk the house awake far before the standard wake time.
Ellie and I picked the largest bedroom for us, gave Abbie the room with the least amount of stuff to destroy, and put the boys in the third room. Abbie’s and our rooms were at the ends of the house on the outskirts of the heat vents on a cold and windy night. Ellie and I compensate by leaving our bedroom door open, allowing warm air from the living room. We couldn’t leave Abbie’s door open, though, or else we might find the house awoken by the living room television at 2am, 4am, and 6am. Abbie’s room was therefore cold all night. I worried that she would have trouble sleeping all night, especially in the thin pajamas I foolishly brought for her. Instead she fell asleep quickly that night, and stayed asleep.
At least she stayed asleep until 45 minutes before her wake time, at which point she awoke screaming. I rolled out of bed, got a head start on breakfast, and gave thanks that the boys were still asleep.
The rest of the morning went well. Abbie was in a good mood despite the shortage of sleep and potential hypothermia. The boys continued sleeping until their normal wake time, and took a good morning nap.
We drove home after lunch, and that’s where the schedule fell apart. I had planned to travel a few miles before turning on the DVD player so Abbie wouldn’t have to watch reruns on the way home, but Abbie fell asleep before we hit the next town, well before her scheduled naptime. I had hoped to let her nap the entire ride home, but an ill-timed stoplight a few towns over woke her. The boys did something within their rear-facing car seats, but I couldn’t see when they were napping and when they were fighting Abbie to get their toys back. They were quiet the entire trip, and that was the important thing, especially since Abbie was not happy when she woke up 45 minutes from home.
Back home I let the kids play while unloading the car and wondering how the scheduled afternoon nap would go. Was Abbie’s short car nap long enough to let her refuse to take a regular nap? Did the boys sleep too much in the car? When could I watch the shows I recorded while out of town? I let everyone stay awake until they were too irritable to handle, which was an hour past the regular naptime. Then I set everyone down for a nap and hoped for the best, especially since everyone was back in the same room.
45 minutes later I let Abbie out of the room. Not that she had just woken up; she never fell asleep. She was now making too much noise for her brothers to sleep. A few minutes later, I pulled Ian out of the room since Abbie woke him up, or maybe he never fell asleep either. Regardless, he was awake and wanted the same freedom Abbie had connived. Tory stayed asleep until his normal wake time, and earned a gold star for the day.
The rest of the night was difficult as two children whined from lack of sleep, and the third whined from sympathy. I made it through by concentrating on the kids, and ignoring the chores that piled up over the weekend. By bedtime the kids were almost inconsolable, and complained heavily before falling asleep. After everyone quieted down, I wound down by watching a little television. I finished one episode before Ian woke up screaming. A little acetaminophen, and he was back to sleep, and I was back to the couch.
posted by Matt at
11:43 PM
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