long day

It's the end of a long day. Not a bad day, really, but a long one. We're having minor sleep issues here. Namely, the kids get up too early and usually don't nap (even Anya) so they are really tired and cranky by the late afternoon. We've tried black-out drapes and earlier bedtimes, but have been unsuccessful with both. It seems that waking up with the sun, even when the sun rises by 5:30am, is just something we have to accept this time of year. Today this was worse because Daniel and Anya went to bed late last night after attending a birthday party. The party was fun and well worth the late bedtimes, but they still woke up at the crack of dawn and refused or were unable to go back to sleep, so they were extra tired and clingy and grumpy all day. On top of that, the weather was nasty part of the morning and then later in the afternoon, so we were kind of cooped up inside most of the day. In between rainstorms, I took the kids to a nearby park with a splash pad (think sprinklers on crack), where Anya slept in the stroller and Daniel wore himself out so thoroughly that he fell asleep at 5:00 and couldn't be roused for nearly an hour.

It was good that we got out of the house this afternoon and all, but 5:00 naps are the worst. Bedtime for Daniel was an absolute fiasco. It took 30 minutes to convince him to drink some milk and eat a piece of bread. He badly needed a bath, but hung on my leg sobbing for another half hour that he was too cold and tired for a bath before I took his clothes off for him and made him get in the tub. He got his own pajamas on and then whined he was too tired to walk himself to the bathroom - all of about 6 feet away from where he was standing - to brush his teeth. Once that was finally accomplished, I lay down with him in bed for 20 minutes he suddenly had a second wind and got up to play Candy Land with Stuart and Anya while I made a lame attempt to practice some music I have to learn by Thursday but probably won't.

Sigh. This is just how it goes sometimes.