The Extra Hour Of Sleep We Didn't Get
11.3.2009 When we went thru our first time change last spring, we high-fived each other, taking advantage of daylight savings by dropping the before-bed bottle, and finally being able to keep the kids up past 7:00 p.m. Mateo and Harper didn't skip a beat and rolled right on with it.
The problem with having early success with anything parenting-related is that you naively believe that the next similar experience will be as smooth. But OMG were we wrong!
The first indication? The chatter that was Harper talking in her crib at FIVE A.M. on Sunday morning. We managed to stave them off until around 6:30 a.m., but by then they were ready to get up. A few hours later, we drove out to the suburbs to have brunch with Jennifer's family, having stopped off at her dad's house first long enough for Harper to find an earthworm, rip its head off, kiss it, and then start tossing it around the driveway; an activity that must have exhausted her because no less than five miles and fifteen minutes later, she was out cold.
We didn't know this, of course. I mean, she was saying "nap! nap!" from her carseat, but no one was taking her seriously. When we got to the restaurant, I opened the passenger door, undid the carseat buckles, and she rolled out like an octopus, limbs and head in all different directions. I thought she was being silly, but she was being asleep.
Forget making it to the usual naptime of 11:30, it was barely 10, new time. She slept in my arms for most of brunch and I ate with my fingers. Jennifer kept getting up and refilling plates at the buffet trying to keep up with Mateo's "more!" He was in high heaven with an assortment of pancakes and sausage and chicken fajitas and tortillas and fruit and eggs. We were in high heaven because kids under two eat free. They apparently had not yet met Mateo.
We weren't sure how Harper would respond when she woke up, given that she occasionally wakes from a nap as if the universe itself has hurt her feelings deeply and she is harboring the biggest grudge ever. On those days, Harper needs quiet, alone time as she contemplates accepting the apologies due her. When she popped up off my shoulder like a meerkat thirty minutes later, looking around confused with furrowed brows, I braced myself for a stunning eruption. Instead, she looked around, saw familiar faces, and in post-Halloween fashion, said "Boo!" to the table.
We had a twenty-seven mile haul back home, with an arrival time of around 1230p. We had a packed afternoon planned and we all needed a nap. Mateo and Harper, however, were not so convinced. Mateo eventually crashed, but Harper was in tears, sitting by her bed, taking her disappointment out on her woobie. So I went into her room, laid her next to me on the mattress on her belly, and we slept for a good hour and a half.
The afternoon picnic at the park with friends (more on that soon!) was splendid, as were burgers on the patio of Beck's Prime at the Memorial Park Golf Course. But Mateo was confused as to why we were having dinner at his bath time. He was zoning out quickly, as evidenced by this photo:
We got home in time to nearly avert a meltdown from Mateo. Nearly. Lately he wants to be RIGHT. UNDER. THE. FAUCET of the bathtub, water running. And he's finding any way possible to drink all the water -even if only the bath water - which results in peed-through diapers. We're working on this. Harper gets REALLY hyper in the evenings if you let her wick burn too long. We barely held them together through 615 that evening.
Which was fine. Because it meant we got to put them down to sleep, spending with them their bedtime routine, before heading out to a David Wilcox concert. Jen and I sat ten feet away from him, shoeless, bundled on Mexican afghans with an intimate gathering of about a hundred-and-fifty people for two hours of great music.
And I should have left it at that. Really. Instead, I went up to him after the concert and told him I once had a cat that I had named David Wilcox but called him Bubba for short. And as I'm telling him this, inside my head is a voice saying "why are you effin telling him this?" And David Wilcox is like "cool", because HOW ELSE IS HE SUPPOSED TO RESPOND? So I twitter about my mortifying fan moment.
And then, my tweet gets picked up by his people, and I know it can't actually be him because he is so free-spirited and untethered and metrosexually ethereal that I doubt he even has a cell phone, said so himself at the concert that he didn't know where it was.
Oh, and then? Then, I get followed. By my all time favorite modern folk musician ever. The one I smoked pot to in college listening to "Hold It Up". Completely different meaning now, though.
So, long day.
Where was I. Oh, the time change. Mateo and Harper have continued to struggle through this 'fall back' an hour transition. They've continue to wake at their pre-time change times, even though the clock says different. It doesn't help that it's lighter earlier, too. At least for now. What do they care, they know Jen is making breakfast and that I'm coming to read and change diapers before bringing them upstairs. They're pooped out by mid morning so they need a nap, but since the nap is now over before noon, they can't exactly hang another seven hours. so they've temporarily reverted to two-a-day naps this week. And that's fine by us, really. Rested kids are happy kids. Plus, they are still pretty happy when I get home in the evenings as it's still "earlier" to their tiny, but active, body clocks.
Things are looking up. Harper was still sleeping at 7:00am this morning, and Mateo and I got through our morning prayers without him saying "pancay!" (pancakes) before we got to the Amen. I'm just glad we're not doing this again for another six or so months.
Reader Comments (4)
I loved the fall time change until kids. We had a rough transition week trying to get the kids back on schedule. This year has been a BREEZE! We didn't do anything to prepare them at all and it took one day before they were waking up late.
I'm thinking that mrdavidwilcox will probably make a song out of this . . .
I never realized the impact of the time change before. I guess I will be learning about that soon enough!
I sure wish I could have been at that concert!! I ate a turkey leg with him and Sheryl (you know the gal from younglife we met in Colorado?) back in the day!
Cheers!
I think our b/g twins are just a month or so older than yours and we had the exact same experience with the end of daylight saving time. Last year was sooooo easy. No problems adjusting to the time change at all. But this year, my son was up at 4:45am on Sunday and only slightly later on Monday. Thankfully, by Thursday we were back on track, but I couldn't believe how much longer it took them to adjust this time. At least now we'll know what we're in for next time. But maybe then they'll surprise us again!
Great photos, as usual. Glad to hear you got to have a fun night out!