Neela kept us up most of last night coughing until about 4am when I took her downstairs, made her a cup of tea, propped her up on the couch and turned on the tv.

…Also then I could go back to sleep because I can’t hear her from my room…

Now if you have more than one kid you’ll have to publicly call me a monster, but deep down you know that there have been times when SLEEP has been the ever-present and all consuming thing in your life that overshadowed everything else.

“Hey, remember when we used to SLEEP and wake up and see the sun and be happy? I can’t recall what that feels like anymore…”

It’s like Sam not really understanding Frodo in LOTR as they struggle towards Mordor with the ring growing ever heavier. Only instead of seeing the Great Eye in your mind it’s the word SLEEP. MUST SLEEP. IF ONLY I COULD TRULY SLEEP!

When you’re in your twenties you have this horrible misconception that:

A. You need eight hours of sleep a night, and

B. Sleep deprivation is another form of torture not found in civilized countries.

Wow was I in for a shock when we had kids and actual pressure in our family and lives. I’ve been up all night several nights in a row and still had to show up in a high pressure environment and get a job done. Turns out that it’s not impossible if you have no other options..

A friend of mine owns three businesses and was laughing when talking about all the Stress Days someone was taking off from work. Now, there are absolutely times of tragedy which everyone would recognize need some time to sort out, but what she was talking about were things like “I had an awkward conversation with my son last night and I’m too exhausted to come into work today boss”, or “I screwed something at work up yesterday and somebody corrected me and hurt my feelings so I can’t come in today!”

“Uh huh” my friend was thinking, “So did I, and a whole bunch of other things went wrong too, so I guess I’ll cover your shift for you?”

I believe her exact words to me were “Stress day? What the he__ is that? Do I get one?”

Ironically I had to put my foot down this morning and tell Neela she should stay home and sleep today (she’s still coughing most of the time), and she almost cried because she would miss school, which was kinda funny.

What was even better was that though she was still sick, the cough medicine was making her a little loopy and her sisters were having a laugh.

Arwen walked upstairs and said “I didn’t get to sleep til midnight and got less sleep than you Neela” (she didn’t know Neela was sick)

Neela stared blankly for a minute and eventually said in response “You were a bus driver last night??”

How is cough medicine so much better than when I was a kid? Stuff tastes like candy now! No wonder kids get sick so often! Some of the natural stuff Erin tried forcing on me made me decide I’d rather be sick and stop complaining than take my medicine for being sick! Powerful psychological stuff this!

Neela was looking out the kitchen window and pipes up “That’s a really tall tree, but not as tall as me!!”

Ailish: “Um, those trees are taller than our house Neela”

Neela: “Yeah well I’m still taller! Look, the house is breaking because I don’t fit in it!” This while she tried cramming herself under the bench at the table yelling “See! It’s breaking!”

I think what we all had in mind when we were kids and said “adventure!” changes drastically in our teenage years. Now that I’m an adult adventures make me shudder and say like Frodo I “have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!” (JRR Tolkien in the Fellowship of the Ring)

…but they do give you the best stories to tell later:)