About Me

My photo
I am a 29-ish yr old married mother of 8. My family is my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. My darling husband is my very best friend and together we are raising 8 of the best kids in the world! They are Rose(12) Sarah(12) Ammon(10) Malachi(8) Gabriel(7) Hannah(5) Maggie(4) and Abbie(3) We currently own 2 dogs, 1 bird, 5 chinchillas, 1,000,000 rabbits, 1 cat, 4.5 horses, and one ferret. We just purchased a home that is definately a "fixer-upper", with land and room for the kids to roam. Our goal is to run a mostly self sustaining farm and live in peace as we grow as a strong family unit. We have seen our fair share of hardships, but we are thankful for the many blessings the Lord gives us on a regular basis!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Insomnia!

Okay I have insomnia! I wake up at about 12:30 and just lay in bed until about 4:30-ish. This has been going on for over a week now...Even when the baby is sleeping soundly! I keep thinking that I should just get up and do laundry or something but I'm hoping to convince my body that sleeping at night is a good thing!
Any way, while I'm laying there in the dark I start to think about...things. Nothing and everything and questions and answers. Last night I was stuck on questions. This is a sample of how it goes...
  1. Why do I have to tell my almost 8-yr old he can't use a sippy cup?
  2. Why do I have to tell my nine yr olds not to pick their noses?
  3. Why do I keep giving my 1 yr old turkey rice dinner baby food when I know it gives her diarrhea?
  4. Why does my son have to keep his shoes in a row (according to size and/or color) under his bed instead of keeping them in the "shoe basket"?
  5. Why is screaming and throwing your self down on the floor the preferred method for getting attention?
  6. Why cant they choose to smile and say "I love you" instead?
  7. When a child gets in trouble for screaming...Why do they scream louder?
  8. Why is the trash can the most intriguing thing in the entire house to a 1 yr old?
  9. Why is the toilet the second most intriguing thing in the entire house to a 1 yr old?
  10. What do you do with a one yr old that can get out of their crib, tip over their cage (or move it around as she pleases) and climb any where?
  11. How do you keep clothes on a two year old? (I've been asking that one for about 7 years now!)
  12. Is there a meal that exists that is healthy and all of my children will eat?
  13. If a child makes them self puke in protest to the food you make, should you make them clean it up by them selves?
  14. Is it right to reward a bite of green beans with an entire scoop of ice cream?
  15. Is the phrase "I'll spank 'em later" the epitome of laziness?
  16. Can you hire a professional disciplinarian to do all the punishing for you?
  17. Is there really a "super nanny"?
  18. How much dose she charge?
  19. Why did I pick up that ______ off the floor, when I asked ______ to do it before they went to bed?
  20. Does John have clean socks for work tomorrow?

This continues for up to four hours every night! AHHHHHH! I could keep going TRUST ME! I just wanted to give you a window to my brain. Have you ever been so tired that you feel that the world is kind of happening around you?

Oh well, I guess I'll sleep again in about 20 yrs! ;)

7 comments:

Cali and Travis said...

Welcome to the wonderful world of insomnia. A world in which I have managed to survive since I was a teenager and couldn't sleep. I too have the merry-round of questions run through my head over night. My train of thought tends to run away with me. Even more so these days as I stress about the baby, motherhood and everything that goes along with it.

I wish I had tips or advice, but sadly, I've just learned to embrace it.

And don't worry about the child who lines up their shoes. I have to do that too. The idea throwing them all in a basket together makes my skin crawl. I also organize the items hanging in my closet by item, color and season worn. (It's a complicated system, but anything less makes me crazy.)

leschornmom said...

My Ammon is the exact same way about clothes! I actually stopped letting the boys hang clothes in their room because it took so much time for Ammon to clean the closet (organize by size, color and type) durring chore time. He's not even 8 yet! His "cognative behavioral theropyst" (sp?) is going to make a bundle on him by the time he's grown! (I love you Will!)

I just talked to my cousin and she's been dealing with it for years! Scarry! I hope mine is temporary!

Darryl and Cindy Cunningham said...

Oh this is kind of a standard mother drill with the insomnia and the questions.

Now, did you know Cali alphabetizes her CDs, Movies, soups and spices? Don't they have medicine for this? She would probably be worse except we saved her by moving into very small living quarters with too many people and too much stuff. She just had to learn that it wasn't going to be the end of the world if the Basil was between the parsly and the tarragon on the shelf. (Don't even get us started on the volumn numbers. Her siblings are relentless!)

As for the insomnia.. "This too shall pass". I used to do the same thing. Now, when the questions start in my head I get up and read. Sometimes I go right back to sleep other times I enjoy whatever I am reading and generally finish the book. Either way it's better than giving myself an ulcer. I find that bouts of insomnia come and go in our lives so don't fight it. Drink some Chamomile tea and get a good book.

Cathy Shields said...

Well if Ammon turns out like Cali, I think you'll be fine.
Sorry I can't help on the sleep problem. I have no problem sleeping. Except I need to much of it. I think you just need to shut your brain off and I like Cindy's suggestion to read. I love to read and maybe that is why I don't have a sleep problem. If you don't have a good book, try the scriptures. I also find that anything on the military or discovery channel puts me to sleep right away!!

William said...

Oh my. Some of the personality quirks of my friends are just too good to be true. I need to get some kind of personality test posted for all of you to take. I’m salivating just thinking about the fascinating data that I could sort though. Then when I'm old I can write a book to pad my retirement fund.

On a side note Erica, if you want I can go through your list and give you evidence and research based answers. (Yes Erica I love you too)

Also don’t worry too much about Ammon’s extreme organization. Sure that could be an indicator of an Obsessive-Compulsive disorder but it also is indicative of a Conscientious personality style. Which is a very good thing. You only need to worry about it if he takes it too such an extreme that it disrupts major aspects of his life.

Stephanie said...

I absolutely think someone who pukes on purpose should have to clean it up. (I have a couple of skilled voluntary pukers in my house.)

I also think it's great to give ice cream for one bit of green beans, if we're talking about Malachi. That's like climbing Mt Everest for him!

Leisha Mareth said...

I am a chronic insomniac too! Well, I was getting better, but then I got a newborn and now he sleeps and I'm up!