Good Evening, Lousy Night

One thing about this stage of night is that staying overnight in a new place can be miserable. Our family is not used to sleeping altogether in one room. I realize this individual space is unique to us developed countries. I actually tried the family bed with both children and could not make it work. Our family members just all sleep better in our own cozy little beds.

This weekend was our church retreat at a camp up in Michigan. Pete was in charge of Saturday activities and was set on spending the night. I originally planned to take the baby home, but changed my mind a couple of days ago. Why not go for it? Pete and I could get the kids to bed and hang out with other adults. We wouldn't have to drive to and from the camp twice. It hadn't been very successful when Emma was 18 months old two years ago, but Andrew's a different baby... better sleeper, more content. I tried to be optimistic... or maybe in denial. The evening was great. The meal was quite tasty for camp food. We enjoyed being with friends. The variety show was entertaining and the kids did fabulous. I didn't worry that it was past their bedtimes because they both were doing well and I figured they'd be extra tired then for the night. Then came the dreaded.

Emma settled in rather well -at 9pm and slept all night long. She's a rather restless sleeper we learned. She removed her pants when she got hot (her mom does this all the time!) and flailed around on the bed throughout the night. She'd sit up, get up from bed, turn her body upside down - all while staying in a sleep state. (Perhaps this is why she and I could never sleep together.) Never did she venture to our bed, talk, cry or anything.

It took us a while to get Andrew down. He hasn't slept in a pack-n-play in a while so it was different enough for him. It was too entertaining, I suppose, to stand up and look at big sister laying in her bed. But with some patience and his beloved stuffed elephant, Pete got him down. There he slept for a solid four hours. We came to bed at midnight- still too late for me, and he was awake at 1 AM. I wasn't surprised as he still wakes sometimes at night. It was especially likely being in a hotel room. But he wouldn't settle. Pete and I tried everything we could think of in the room for two entire hours. His eyes wouldn't shut. He'd play or cry if put in his bed or our bed. We feared waking Emma or the neighbors, although Emma slept through it all. Of course, Pete and I were quite grouchy, having only slept an hour - it's always worse when you're awaken from that deep sleep state. We even talked about Pete driving him home but I did not want them on the road for a hour in the middle of the night. Finally after 3AM, he settled in the pack-n-play again. I had moved it to the darkest part of the room, as far from the beds as I could go.

Another four hours and Emma wakes up ready for the day. I'm exhausted. Pete's wiped out. Andrew is blocking the door. Her stirring and talking wakes him up and we are officially screwed. I wasn't convinced he'd sleep at all since the sun was now beginning to shine. It was still over two hours from brunch and Emma was the only one who felt rested. So we packed up and left.

I value my sleep and patience is something I really need more of in these situations so I do not handle these middle-of-the-night situations nearly as well as some of you would. I could sit here and resent the fact that we tried to stay the night or that our baby did so poorly. It is frustrating and I know many of you have been there... Angie just told me a story last evening that sounded worse to me than what we experienced. So I don't feel I can complain too bad. But I do think we made the right decision in taking off. And so far 3 of the 4 of us have been able to nap here (Pete would rather watch the ND game he missed yesterday.) Won't be sleeping over at any camps in the near future though.