LATE NIGHT EXPECTATIONS

It was a long busy day.  I had Japanese school with Ellie in the morning (which is a whole separate story in itself).  And because of this, she didn’t take an official nap.  She slept for 20 minutes in the car on the way there, and a half hour on the way back. When this happens, it usually means she’ll go down easy and sleep longer at night.  But sometimes things just don’t go as you expect them to.

Like I said, it was a long busy day.  Japanese school always leaves me exhausted and since I don’t get that mental break while she naps, the afternoon always feels long.  Ellie wasn’t bad at all, she was just very active.  But after dinner, it was finally time for her bath and bed time which both went really well.  By 8:30pm, she was sound asleep, and I had the whole Friday night.

We had a very busy Saturday planned so I really needed to get my ice cream article completed Friday night.  I know it doesn’t seem like it, but the silly graphics I make for that take a lot of time and I didn’t want it to take up half of my Saturday.  I cleaned the kitchen, got my computer set up in the living room, put in a movie and got started.  I had the whole night ahead of me.

By 10:00pm I started hearing whining through the baby monitor.  I was a little worried but not much because she does that sometimes.  She’ll whine for a bit and go back to sleep.  But as time went on, so did the whining, and it got louder and more frequent.  And then finally it turned into a full on whale.  Oh no, I have to go in.  I was assuming it was just a monster dump that woke her up.  I was gonna go in, make a quick change, pat her on the back, and be back downstairs in no time.  But sometimes, things just don’t go as you expect them to.

Her diaper did not have a dump, and she did not want to go back in her crib either.  She wanted to lay on me.  It felt like it was a while since I had been in this situation and I wasn’t prepared.  I figured she’d fall asleep on me, I’d put her in the crib and all would be well.  Well… after three attempts of putting her in the crib with her screaming I figured this wasn’t going to work.  We laid there on the floor, her snuggled on my chest sleep breathing.  I figured one more try.  I whispered to her, “Do you want to go in your crib?”  She replied with a very clear, “Nooooo.”  I didn’t have the mental capacity left to really decide what I should do next.

Now you’re probably wondering where Aya is during all of this.  Although I’m not blaming her for anything, I do want some sympathy and I think this will add to my case.  She didn’t come home after work because she was going out to dinner for a friend’s birthday. (yes, I know she needs a break too)  It was a Friday though.  Friday.  Not only the end of a long week, but a long and emotionally draining day. I had taken Ellie to Japanese school, ran errands, she had no proper nap, we had dinner alone, I gave her a bath, and put her to bed.  And now, there I was, at 11:30pm with a kid who wouldn’t go back to sleep and no word from Aya.  I’m not sure what I was thinking, maybe because I was expecting Aya to be home soon and tag in, but I decided to bring Ellie downstairs with me.

I told Ellie she had to lie down on the couch and we could watch the concert video.  I have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25^th Anniversary Concert dvd and Ellie loves watching it.  While she lay down on the couch smiling watching U2 with Mick Jagger, I continued my intense important work of writing about ice cream.  All was well.  But I had no end game.  I was assuming she’d get tired and drift off, even though she’s NEVER ever done that.  It could happen though, right?  But sometimes, things just don’t go as you expect them to.

At midnight, I texted Aya, “Ellie’sawake, she won’t go back to bed, we are watching Bruce Springsteen, are you coming home?”  Her response was, “Uh oh, I’m wrapping up, see you soon.”

Ellie did not drift off to sleep on the couch.  She got more excited as the concert continued.  And her lying on the couch turned into her walking around the living room and dancing to Bruce Springsteen.  Then she wanted to play the piano, then she wanted to color, then she wanted water, then she wanted to play with her blocks. She got into her tired sleepy slap happy hyper tired mode.

When Aya got home at 1am, I was tired, cranky, and was Ellie’d out.  I’m sorry sweetie, but you wore out your welcome today.  Ellie was in full hyper tired mode and was now Aya’s responsibility.  But to say I was unaffected by the shrieks and screams from an over-tired baby coming from upstairs would be a lie. Even though she was no longer in my care, the sounds coming from upstairs were like someone poking my eyeballs from inside my head.  It was funny to think that at one time this was an everyday occurrence.  I was definitely out of practice.

Ellie finally fell asleep around 2:30am.  You’d think that with her late sleep time intermission, she’d sleep in later and wake up well rested.  But sometimes… ah, you know the rest… A whiney 7am came all too soon.