Re-tali-aAAAA- tion

Well, I knew it would come. Genea has really been on a roll since I got back home and doing great. On the surface. She has been pleasant and considerate and helpful. Fun and funny. Calmer, tranquil (sort of). However.



As with all things Genea, don't count your happy chickens before they hatch, or blow their way out of their shell. She has invented a new way of torturing me in particular. Because she knows how important my sleep is to me (yeah, ok I know it is not a plot against me but I swear to you that is how if feels!) . I just. do . not. do. well. without my sleep!


Early Monday morning (remember, I came home from my trip Sunday) Genea is standing in my doorway at 3 AM hissing "Mama..... Mama........ Mama?" Finally I realize that it is not a crummy dream, she is actually standing there and so I ask what is wrong. She says her tummy hurts and I invite her to come and lay with me. She does. But after about 10 minutes, she leaves because she cannot usually fall sleep in my bed. You see, it is not her bed. And if she is going to sleep, all other things being the same as yesterday, it has to be in her bed. Same goes for me in her bed btw, if I make like I am going to lay down with her, she gets all whipped up about me having my own bed and going to it. LOL!




Tuesday morning (middle of the night) was a special one. 3 AM and here she comes. "Mama..... Mama..... Mama.....". What, Genea. (put down your coffee warning) She says, my butt itches. Ok, I am still trying to stay asleep, desperately, and get into this as little as possible so I make a critical mistake.... I tell her we will put lotion on it in the morning. No, Mama, we should do it now, my butt itches now. I muttered some crap about it won't work through the fabric of her jammies if we do it now and somehow she accepts this, and back to her own bed.



Wednesday afternoon I decided to have a little talk with her about this new attack on my sleep. A little talk that included phrases like "never again" and the like. See, I am out of patience quick on this since I am so danged tired. I really tried to be kind and even asked her if she was scared when I was gone so now she needs to check to be sure I am there. No, was the answer. Definitely not. Very certain of that. (Too bad kid, cuz I would have been much more accommodating for that one!)



Thursday morning. I hear Genea crying in the bathroom, about 4 AM. Trying uselessly to hang on to my sleep I asked The Husband what was going on. Turns out Genea listened to me, and did not wake me up. Instead, she stood at the door whispering..... "Daddy..... Daddy..... daddy...". Even in my attempts to stay unconscious, I saw the uproarious humor in that one. The problem du jour was that she had gone to the bathroom and said she could not get her diaper back on.



Now for anyone that is thinking, well you crummy parents, she probably DID have a problem getting her diaper back on. That has to be hard to do, especially in the middle of the night! Jerks! Lousy people! Poor little girl! So if you are thinking that, let me tell you a fun story.

On Wednesday morning, not six months ago but this very weeks same Wednesday morning, Genea made a big point of telling The Husband that her overnight diaper was dry! Woo hoo! Party on dude! High 5's were passed around. Until The Husband noticed a wet diaper was on the floor. Yeah, ewww is right. Turns out this child is a diaper changing savant when she is trying to put one over on you. And mind you, there is nothing to be gained or lost. We still use nighttime diapers and we do not care. There are no prizes for a dry one and no mention of wet ones. So she is like Rain Man driving the Cadillac (or whatever it was) when she woke up and whipped off the wet one and flipped on a dry one lickety split to pull her scam. Only she left her evidence on the floor.

Thursday we had many discussions about cranky parents who get no sleep and children who continue to want and need things from their parents. Cause and effect girls. You want 'fill in the blank'. Your parents are tired and do not have the energy to get you 'fill in the blank'. Why are your parents tired? Mmmm hmmm, yup yup. So what are you going to do next time? Mmmm hmmm, good idea, stay in your bed and don't wake anyone up.

Friday morning what happened? Who is wondering? Who thinks our great supportive, encouraging and interactive reciprocal parenting technique has been successful? Right around 4 AM, who was sleeping and who wasn't? Well, we all would have been sleeping evidently were it not for a certain owee hurting a certain child. What turned out to be an invisible phantom owee. Not her fault. The owee flared up then disappeared prior to sunrise.

aaaaargh tired ssrrrrrreeeaeeeeeeeeeet irritated gaaalooooooooooo screaming grrrrrrrrr !!!!!