It seems to be Mama's Law that anytime you desperately need a nap your child refuses to sleep. I now understand how sleep-deprivation is an effective form of torture, after endless hours awake the desperate prisoner reveals all her secrets for a few moments of shut eye.
Olive slept horribly last night. Not that she's ever a particularly good sleeper."Does she sleep through the night yet?" people ask and I just want to laugh. I'm lucky if she sleep more than two hours a spell.
Elias, on the other hand, has been staying in his own bed through the night, more often than not lately, giving us a little more space in the ole family bed. And after years of waking up ready to go go go we now find ourselves nudging, tickling, or quite literally dragging him out of bed on school days. He's growing I tell ya. He's becoming such a boy.
No longer the fearless toddler but a kindergarten kid with worksheets upon worksheets of homework at night. School is no longer playing in the ball pit or the rice bin or listening to songs during circle time but learning to read and write sentences, with standards in kindergarten that he's held to along with his peers. His teachers have less time for teaching social skills or creative play as they too are held to the fire of progress reports and leaving no child behind on the academic beltway.
It isn't easy being six-- kindergarten isn't cupcakes and fairies anymore.
Kindergarten is seat-work and writing and math and learning to follow all the school rules:
No climbing up the slides. Walk in the hallways. Take your hat off in the building. Use an inside voice. Wait in line. No cutting. No you can't have a snack yet.
Yes "see" and "sea" sound the same but they mean different things. The "a" is silent. And yes there really is a "g" and an "h" in the number eight.
When Elias stands in the doorway in the morning and says, "I want to go back home," I remind myself that I didn't really want to get out of bed either this morning. I'm tired too, I think. And I'm not using extra energy just to stand up on my own. Not working extra hard to balance, move, process, and see. I'm also not encountering all the mysteries of the English language for the first time, trying to make sense of this strange tribe of words in the even stranger world of school.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
Oh Olive, I'll tell you all my secrets, if you just let me sleep for an hour. Please baby, I'll do anything...
Oh, I hear ya on the sleep! I'd say it'll get better but...who really knows? Nik went from sleeping 13 hrs straight through the night to waking every few hours now. :-/
This pictures are so sweet. Olive makes a precious little easter bunny!
Posted by: niksmom | 04/13/2010 at 03:34 PM
Well Olive looks like an easter bunny angel and I totally hear you about school. Sometimes I just want to take Angus to the baseball diamond and skip school. Let his brain rest. Were there as many rules when we were in K? School is starting to feel like work for Angus and it makes me sad. He is too young to be a man at work already. Wasn't there a ski school where you went to a few classes in between ski races? I may look into that.....ho-hum.
Posted by: fleming | 04/13/2010 at 04:10 PM
Oh wow! I don't need to write a blog, Christy, because my life so closely mirrors yours. :o) Thanks for sharing and letting me know that I'm not alone. I thought I was doing something wrong now that I have to pull Xander out of bed and convince him that he WILL have fun at school (recess, P.E., music, etc.). A lot is expected of them and it's not always easy being a kid. Thanks for reminding us.
Posted by: Faye | 04/13/2010 at 04:34 PM
Christy,
My kids always only slept 2 maybe 3 hours as long as I was breast-feeding. When I could finally add some cereal to their routine did they finally get it- yes, I was ALWAYS sleep deprived. It is amazing what mother's can do without normal sleep and always dreaming of sleep. AND, it never ends. I remember having to get up at 5:00 for Molly's horse shows, soccer games, etc. and my darling husband kept sleeping.Then later, I was the one staying awake for her to come home even though I was not the "night owl". We just have something extra- maybe that is why we are so strong to carry and deliver these darling babies. I know your parents are so looking forward to having you and Olive and then the "BOYS" coming to visit soon. Your mom, and dad, are counting the days. I still can't wait until I can finally meet you and cement the love I feel for your family.
Take care and lots of love
Posted by: Noel Dennehy | 04/13/2010 at 05:07 PM
I wonder how much the academic stuff at an early age/grade will help. We all graduated from college and we didn't have homework in kindergarten, right?!? Are we creating young learners who will be so zonked by age 10 that they'll have high anxiety? I stand on the sidelines as my oldest daughter goes through first grade. She seems to handle it well. Will she be ok? I though we would want to send her to private school to be more challenged, but her public charter is challenging enough! You've touched upon a sensitive spot for me. Time will tell...
Posted by: Greta Campanale | 04/14/2010 at 06:50 AM
I wonder too, here I am a school counselor from a family of educators and I'm already struggling to keep up with the homework and Elias is only in kindergarten! We are lucky that his teacher is excellent and she makes learning fun for her kids but she is bound by the national standards that I find myself questioning...social and emotional learning matters as much if not more than academic and I too worry about the pressure put on our children to excel. Ski school sounds great Flem. This morning Elias went outside early to shovel (yes we just got dumped with snow) and he didn't want to stop playing in the snow to go to school, who can blame him? (Besides anywhere else but Alaska would have called a snow day today.) As to the sleep issue Olive finally fell asleep for a nap yesterday so i snuck one in too but like your kids Noel, 2-3 hours is all I usually get. Max. Shes the queen of the 20 minute cat nap. Niksmom I hope that he starts sleeping more hours for you soon. May we all find rest and time to play!
Posted by: Christy | 04/14/2010 at 08:47 AM
Yes, school does seem to be harder now than when we were kids, but many kids do seem to rise to the challenge. However, I do wonder if the earlier start works in the long run because it seems like America is having more and more trouble with education. hmmmm.....
As for the sleep, she is at an age to learn to sleep more at night and there are some tricks/methods you can try, or you can wait it out. It's a personal choice, good luck!
Posted by: Kit | 04/15/2010 at 07:21 AM
Oh, I remember so well the not sleeping. I would say "oh baby, please, have mercy on mama." You feel so desperate for just a little sleep. She is awful scrumptious in her bunny ears, though. Thanks for sharing, brings back memories.
Posted by: Mary | 04/15/2010 at 07:31 PM