She's Tired

It’s been a long day today. She’s been struggling with her studies because she hasn’t been getting enough rest as she should. Oh well. It’s time to put the little one to bed. “Ok baby, it’s time for bed!” she said. She picked him up from his highchair and headed to the bathroom to clean him up and to lay him down for the night.

He’s a busy little person, but sometimes, it can be an adventurous time getting him into bed. She gets him cleaned up. She gives him a bath and boy it’s like a water park in the bathroom. There’s water EVERYWHERE. Her little man moves so much, it can be hard to keep him still. So, there was about 15 minutes (which felt like an eternity) of washing, splashing, and just trying to keep the little one to sit still long enough to clean his butt. She sighs. “It’s like the universe is out to get me for some reason and I’m not sure if I’m winning or failing at this point” she states.

So, off to the bedroom they go. Of course, her son wants to move and wiggle like the little worm he is, so she tries to be quick with getting him ready for bed. She likes to go through a routine of applying coconut oil to his skin, then lotion, then the diaper and lastly his pajamas. All set right? Time for bed right? Oh no. Not for this little fella. He wants to play still. She puts him in his crib and hear it comes: the screaming. She’s not sure where this high-pitched scream came from. He does it every night because he does not like being in his crib. But she knows that if she lets him out and about, he will mess with everything, try to find whatever he can and put things in his mouth or find new ways to give her a heart attack. She’s never seen a baby so busy. Where does all the energy come from? Is it stashed somewhere in his body? His head? Feet? She doesn’t understand this at all. But she must stick with the schedule or she’ll never make it.

10 minutes go by. Then 20. Now 30 minutes go by and he’s still not asleep. And of course, he’s still screeching like a banshee. She’s trying to concentrate on cleaning up, but it’s hard to focus when the little one is doing all this, so she tries to comfort him for a little while. Of course, he’s smiling now and happy, and probably thinking “Hey, mama is taking me out of my crib! Oh happy days!” Wrong sir. Very wrong. She can’t continue to play because she must finish cleaning up, so she puts him back. His crying was worse than before. Oh boy. This might have been a mistake. Maybe a warm bottle of milk will help put him to sleep. So to the kitchen mama goes!

Crap. She forgot to clean out his bottles. She’s thinking to herself that she must do better with this. Meanwhile, while hurrying to clean his bottles, she hears her little man crying. She feels so bad. But this has been routine for awhile now, so he should be use it by now…. At least this is what she tells herself. She makes haste and cleans his bottles and makes him a nice warm bottle of milk to help him go to sleep. She goes to his room and he’s there looking at her with those big sad brown eyes. She picks him up, gives him a kiss and proceeds to give him his bottle. She wipes his face and lays him back down. Now he lays there quietly drinking his milk, so she turns off the lights, plays some soothing lullaby music, and leaves the room with the door cracked. Mama doesn’t get a good 10 minutes in before she heard her son crying…. AGAIN.

“Dear Lord” she says to herself. “I’m just trying to clean up. I don’t ask for a lot. Why am I being punished?” she sighed. A mother’s job is never ending. So back to the room she goes and at this point, his crying has turned into screeching. She turns on the light and just looked at him. “What’s with all the noise sir? Is it that hard to lay down, close your eyes and go to sleep?” she asked. He just smiled and said something in his native baby tongue. The answer might have been a yes or he could have said a bad word in response. Who knows?

Around this time, two hours have gone by. And at this point, mama is getting tired and just praying that this little person will go to sleep. She’s been holding him in the rocking chair for a while, hoping that the rocking motion will help put him to sleep, but it has been a battle. He’s been fighting and wiggling, putting up a fight as if his life depended on it. Her oldest child was in her room sleeping peacefully. Mama is wondering where the heck she went wrong with her son. But they say that all babies are different. So, she continues to put her little man to sleep.

Over time, her son is showing more signs of tiredness. Rubbing of the eyes, yawning, and less resisting. It seemed like a miracle that he would get to this point. Mama has been grateful that this time has finally come. Another bottle is made at that point (he eats just as much as he plays) and there they are in the rocking chair, sleep overcoming both mother and child. Slowly, the child is closing his eyes and letting the sandman take over after a few hours of what seemed like a never-ending battle. The mother looks at her son, right into those big brown eyes until they are finally closed shut for the night. She holds her little person just a little while longer, not only to make sure that he’s fully asleep, but to just hold him close and tight because although she may be tired, she knows times like these will soon fade into just memories, so she cherishes these little moments.

Now the time is done and it is time to lay her child to rest because mama is spent. She gives him a kiss goodnight, lays him down, turns out the lights and heads into her own room to lay her head down to rest. It amazes her how one small human can be so much work. As her eyelids close, she lays there, feeling tired than she’s ever been in her life, wondering what adventure tomorrow night has in store for her and her restless child. Off to sleep she goes.