Sleep

B and I have this joke...one that we've had since 2007...that sleep, it's WAAAAAAY over-rated.

In reality, we've been so sleep-deprived for the past four years, I think if someone told us we could sleep all day and all night, we wouldn't know what to do. I know, I know, I'm preachin' to the choir. You all have (or have had) young children, young children that get up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) and children that are restless at night, come up to your bed, want you to snuggle in their bed, etc, etc, etc.

So, for those of you that have lived through this....how have you taught your children the importance of sleep? I'll admit- my kids have really bad sleeping habits.

Let's talk about Parker first. Every night Parker wants to be 'snuggled' til he falls into a deep slumber. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE this. As a WM, I am always super duper eager to get more snuggle time...but, I'm also super duper eager to do the dishes, pick up the toys, fold the laundry, and maybe, just maybe, I could watch that TV show or movie that B and I want to watch...maybe. Then, halfway through the night...like clockwork...I can hear little (but fast) footsteps on the stairs to our room. And then my little heater crawls into bed with me and snuggles me until my tushy is hanging halfway off of the bed...now, that's some good sleep. (sarcasm)

Andrew on the other hand, just likes to wake up early. Plain and simple, my littlest man wants to be the first one (in the world sometimes it seems) to greet the morning hours. Sometimes it's 4 am, sometimes is 5:45 am...either way, it's WAAAAAY too early. The best part is....he's the happiest little man you'll ever see!

And, seriously, how can you resist these two??



So, why am I writing this today? I'm looking for advice. Help me teach my children the importance of sleep. And, even further than that, the importance of independant sleeping...which I think is very important (Not a fan of co-sleeping. Can you tell?). I know this is a basic part of life, but leave some comments and some advice. You can lay it out there and be brutal...well, okay, not too brutal, but let me know how to change our habits!! I'll try it, I promise!