It's 11:30pm. Do you know where your child is?

If there’s one thing I can count on my kids to do, it’s sleep through the night. That, and opening any cupboards I’m foolish enough to leave unlocked. The kids have a 9:30pm bedtime, and when I set them down for the night at about 10pm, they stay asleep until 8am. Or, at least they have the decency to refrain from banging on the door until 8am when they wake up early.

Not tonight, though. I set them down for the night, listened to them fall asleep, and listened to Tory wake up screaming an hour later. He woke everyone up with him, much to Ian’s dismay and Abbie’s delight. Ian thrashed around in his crib for a few minutes before drifting back to sleep. Abbie thrashed around the room for a few minutes, and then the rest of the house after she discovered I foolishly left the door unlocked.

I don’t know why Tory awoke. He might be getting sick, or he might’ve had a baby nightmare. Whatever the reason, I gave him some medicine and laid him back down to finally rest for the night.

After listening to him scream for a few more minutes, I picked him back up. We rocked and sang for a few minutes while Abbie ran roughshod around us, grateful for the stimuli. I set him down again, returned Abbie to bed, and wished everyone a good night as I snuck out the door.

Tory whined for a few minutes after I set him back down, but eventually returned to sleep. Abbie sang for a few more minutes, but eventually returned to sleep. I blogged for several more minutes, but eventually stumbled to sleep.

When experienced parents say these days fly by, it must be because they’ve repressed large chunks of time.