It is 7:44 and All's Quiet

For the first time in months, the boys are still asleep. This is the new "late."

I really can't tell you what happened. They used to sleep sleep sleep. Now, that is the last thing on their mind. Maybe it is because it gets dark at almost 9 pm and first light is at 5am, perhaps it is a double growth spurt. Maybe our family is stuck in a hole in the time/space continuium.....or this is God's way of getting back at me for the not attending mass thing.
I dunno. I just know I hate this not sleeping thing.

Personally, I LOVE sleeping. LOVE IT. There's nothing better than a great night's sleep....unless it is a nap. Please please, someone tell me to take a nap. Go ahead. I'll take you up on it, I swear.

Matt still sleeps. But he is 18. It is part of his job. By the time he was 3, he was a good sleeper too. Although I remember the year and a half I had to sleep in front of his bedroom door so he wouldn't get up, leave his room and flood the bathrooms. Good times.

Nate was my wonder sleeper. This kid loved a nap as much as his good old mom. He slept for 4 hours at a time from the minute he got home. Eight hours at a time from 5 weeks. God love him. While he still needs some quiet time and takes an occasional nap, I've found myself trying to get him to go back to sleep at like 3 am. WTF!!!!!

Quinn was a former good sleeper too. While he was never as great at it as Nate, he slept through the night at 6 weeks. And while it wasn't 8 hours, I knew I could count on at least 6 hours of sleep a night. And at least one good nap--strangely enough, at the same time as Nate. Now, my sweet Quinn is 4 and he has decided sleeping is for babies, and dammit, he is a big kid. And he fights it. Which is not good.

You see, we have a problem with the not sleeping thing. When my kids get overtired, or they just plain fight going to sleep they go into the dreaded ASSHOLE MODE or AM as Paul and I like to call it. Plain and simple, they act like idiots. Tempers flare, fights happen, fits are thrown and parents wanna throw up their hands and wonder why they decided to have more kids in the first place. AM really really sucks. And both of them go there. Often. Or at least more often than they were about 6 months ago.

We are working on a new schedule, posted in the kitchen complete with pictures for our non-reader, Quinn. We know Nate has aspergers, and Quinn is displaying some classic symptoms too. He will be tested in a couple of months. Kids on the spectrum need structure. So I'll give them as much of it as I can. Hopefully, they will pay me back by giving me a few hours to sleep.

I've gotta go. Quinn has decided it is time to get up. And all hell is gonna break loose soon.