Sleep deprivation, parent fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion – all parents have experienced them in some shape or form in their lives. They are often associated with the ‘baby stage’ but parental fatigue is present in every season of your parenting journey – it will change shape, intensity and frequency – but it is relentless. This is why I’ve chosen to add a story from when my children were older to my Parent Fatigue Series – highlighting (hopefully humorously) the strain of the morning wake-up! (Every morning for nine long years…)
The first part of the ‘I’m Awake’ story is available to read here.
I'm so Tired: the Loss of the Lie-in
Mummy (8 years parenting)...
Oh no! Not again… it’s barely even light. Why is he shouting now? What is he shouting? If I keep my eyes closed, maybe he’ll go away and bother someone else.
“Mummy! Mummy!” He’s now whispering into my face. It really doesn’t matter how many times I tell him that when people have their eyes closed they are sleeping – and really, really, really don’t want to wake up.
“Mummy!
I whimper, keeping my eyes firmly closed, hoping that the pain-filled groan will convey my extremely heartfelt message that I really don’t want to wake up. I’m tired. People say that when you have children ‘the days are long but the years are short’. But really it’s ‘the days are endless and the nights are short’. Tiny. Miniscule. Over in the blink of an eye. Literally.
And I need every second of the night to recover enough energy to stumble through the next day. It’s not right how children seem to be able to draw their energy from some magic limitless pot that is impossible for grown-ups to find. Wait, maybe they steal ours at night like some kind of mini energy-sucking vampires.
Wait! Now I’m so tired that I’m comparing my child to a vampire!
“Mummy!” He’s still there. “Mummy I’ve had a lie-in until 7:02am.” He says in a slightly horrified whisper.
It takes a moment – but in my defense I really am still trying to stay asleep!
7.02! That’s not a lie-in!
That’s barely an ‘in’.
Is it really only 7:02am? I stuff my head under a pillow defiantly. He might be worried about missing minutes out of his day but I’ve missed too many minutes of my night since that child was conceived – and I just need a few back.
But it’s too late. Deep down, I know I’m awake.
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