"There will be sleeping enough in the grave." ~Benjamin Franklin

I don't sleep much. Sleep is overrated. I'm up early(ish) when Maya wakes up and I go to bed somewhere between midnight and 2am so that I can have some "me" time before the noisy day begins again. I used to nap when she (Maya, child #1, napped). That's what all the books say. Nap when they nap, yeah right. I napped with her often, even to the end of my pregnancy with Reili (child #2). Then, without warning, Maya STOPPED taking naps! Any pregnant woman could tell you that naps are ESSENTIAL. My nights consisted of waking up every 1-2 hours to either pee, blow my nose, or eat/drink something. I was usually so extremely exhausted during the day but could no longer get a nap with Maya. So, I thought I had beat the system by placing Maya in her front of a good DVD (I know, I know, I'm a bad mom) and sneaking off in order to get a little nap during the day. I was SO pregnant, SO large and uncomfortable, that the only place I could get some good sleep was in my bed with my body pillow.

The first time I did this trick, Maya would come and get me whenever she needed something. I thought, "What a responsible two year old" and thus I tried it again a few days later. I would say, "Come and get me if you need anything." I fell asleep and was even a little bit relaxed knowing that my sweet, responsible little girl would awaken me if anything terrible should happen. Well, the sneaky evil spirit-demon that possesses my child on occasion decided to pay a visit that day. Maya found a black permanent marker, decided to paint her toenails and a little bit on her legs, face, arms, and some clothes. She also decided that she wanted to shave like Daddy did. She got the razor (from the bathroom in the room where I was sleeping, and cut her lip while trying to shave her "mustache." I never took a nap again.

So, fast forward a few months. Maya is now 2 1/2. Reili is 9 weeks old. I get about 4-6 hours of extremely interrupted sleep at night and no naps....ever. Today I was exhausted as usual. Jeff had just left for a business trip for a couple of weeks. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Maya was being pleasant and playing quietly. I took Reili in my bed to feed her and while Maya sat on the bed and played. I started dozing off and Maya kept playing. She likes to talk to me when I'm sleeping. I would incoherently respond to her and then drift off again. She got a picture by the bed and took it out of the frame. I glanced over and saw her holding some glass. I took it from her and tucked it under my pillow. "Dangerous," I thought. "Glad I caught that one in time." I dozed off again. Next thing I know, Maya is shaking something out all over the bed. I don't think much about it and fall asleep again. I wake up a couple of minutes later when I realize what is going on. Maya had gotten a bag of BBs from Jeff's nightstand. (He got a BB gun when he went with our church's scouts to their high adventure camp this summer and for who knows why had a bag of BBs, opened of course, in his nightstand.) Maya said, "Mommy, I swallowed one."

I let my little girl play with small plastic objects which she managed to strew across the bed AND swallow one of. What was I thinking? Was I really thinking I could get a nap even after the permanent marker/razor incident??? Hmm... I like to think of myself as a good mom at times, but this was not one of them. I let my guard down. NEVER let your guard down. Sleep is overrated. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.