Burning the Midnight Oil

Our 3 year old made his statement, when asked to take his nap, "I don't want to sleep! It's not nighttime yet". Needless to say, naps during the day have taken a fast backseat for our youngest son. Come nightfall though, weird things occur. Nightfall does weird things to people, people of all shapes and sizes. It is like when the natural lights turn off outside, another switch turns on, it is literally like pressing the fast-forward button, or a battery-operated toy that just won't turn off.

Our 6 year old is doing perfect cartwheels across the floor (she'd make it into the Olympics, if not for her skill, then for her record-breaking for sure), the 3 year old doing well with forward rolls. He has his own version of cartwheels which he himself aptly calls 'broken wheels'.

Jumping on our big king-sized bed is a firm favourite, though forbidden fruit, everyday the law goes out but to no avail at this twilight hour. Perhaps teaching them to read, will get them to see that 'bed' and 'trampoline' have absolutely nothing in common and that 'bed' actually looks like a bed.

Usually, our ten year old is the first to sleep, then the older girls, (our elder son has his own time frame) but our dynamic duo (Miss 6 and Master 3) are burning the candle at both ends, still expending the last of their energy stores, and boy - do they have energy to spare!! 9:30pm comes and Mum (that's me) climbs into bed. Then the jumping on the bed switches to jumping on me. Master 3 decides to do a workout schedule using my legs as the apparatus, my arms and legs doing umpteen weight-lifts and push-ups, then, there are the piggybacks and horsey-rides.

On very rare occasions, it gets the better of even the main players in this whole charade. After taking his evening bath one night, Master 3 throws himself a fit of a tantrum! Big sister marches him in, in front of me with a look of 'Do something about it Mum' in her eyes. Tantrums are definite no-nos and normally after a firm reprimand, he corrects himself, but this was monster-sized and nothing was working. Finally having to raise my voice above the crescendo, I ordered him to go straight to bed. He climbs into bed still making a ruckus of noise and then he suddenly says: 'I'm sorry, Mummy', amid "aahh haaaa"s. (Funny creatures 3 year olds, aren't they?! God certainly has a sense of humour and throws the humour in at the mostly unlikely times). I stroked his hair and lay down beside him, ‘It's time to calm down little man’, I said. Within a few seconds, he was asleep.

With 7 kids down the track, you’d think I would have a bedtime routine down to pat, but no, even when my 16 year old was only 2, I never dreamed that it would succumb to the ‘old car-ride around the block’ routine but with her it was either that,or bed at after midnight.

But one thing that continues to amaze me and puzzle me at the same time, is that my husband has this knack of just saying the word ‘sleep’ and they are out like a light immediately. Now just how does he do it?!!

That’s just the kids, now the husband….We both work long hours and are constantly at the beck and call of others (no it is not just the kids either). It appears the only time that we are undisturbed is in the early hours of the morning. Somehow God designed our body clocks to awaken at precisely the same time, at 4am!! Usually it is for a middle of the night visit to the toilet, but many-a-time woe to me if hubby sees I am awake, he will take the 'opportunity' to dictate some letters with me in the still of the night.

Despite burning the midnight oil most nights, I still manage to get up at my usual 5:45am wake up call, - besides, a woman needs her ‘quiet’ time too.



Copyright 2007. Rebecca Laklem.