Sleeping is Overrated

I used to joke around with people when they said they didn't get a good night's sleep.  I would say, "You don't need sleep, I haven't slept in twelve years."  It was true and I was a mess.  I don't think I got a good night's sleep until the twins were in first grade.  Uninterrupted sleep.  

Think about it, newborns get up at least three or four times a night, mostly more.  And don't we all have that friend whose child slept through the night at birth and never cried or pooped or anything.  Oh yeah, and their child was potty trained by six months, cleaned their room by age two and is currently in college at the age of twelve.  We all know that secretly, we wish colic on her next child.  Yes, that is mean, but we are sleep deprived when hearing all of this and more than a little crabby.

The funniest thing about your newborn's sleep habits is the first time they actually sleep through the night, you roll over, look at the clock, blink, then tear out of bed and run through the house screaming, "Is he breathing?" 

Well he is still breathing and now he is screaming and crying, because you woke him up!  

You Idiot!

Yes you, the person sitting here reading this and saying (with your nose ever so slightly in the air),  "Well, I never did that."  Yes you did.  Yes you did.  Shame the devil and tell the truth!  You did that, I did that, we have all done that.  As my dear husband would say, and does so frequently, "you girls are weird."  And we are, God made us that way.

To care and worry and love until our hearts are bursting.  We have all gotten up in the middle of the night to go and make sure our munchkins are still breathing.  

There is something so comforting to a mother's heart, to just see that little chest go up and down.  Up and down.  Up---a little sigh---then down.  Comfort in a sigh.  Oh the love in this little movement.  Sigh with me now.  Take a moment, sigh with me now.  Breathe in, slowly out. 

There is pure grace in that moment.  Seeing the little creature that you somehow brought into this world, breathing, sighing and so completely beautiful in that moment.

That is what motherhood is----Chaos interrupted with little moments of pure grace.  That is why we press on, why it is all worth it in the end.  At least most days.  It is a blessing, it is a curse, it is our lives and we love it and hate and endure it.  

But those small moments of pure grace, those are truly a gift from God.

God bless and keep you and yours.