Reluctant sleepers

The other day it got to 11pm.  I still had a couple of things on my to do list but none of them were urgent and bed was calling.  But I didn’t go to bed.  I stayed up and rearranged the furniture in our living room, essentially swapping the sofa and dining room table around. (The highchair is large and cumbersome and annoys me greatly.  I hoped that this new set up would keep it out of my way during the day.  As it turns out, the highchair maintains its frustrating characteristics no matter where it is placed, but I like the change.) 

This trait is one that I completely and utterly owe to my mother.  When my dad used to go on business trips she would stay up late writing emails or pottering about the house getting through odd jobs until finally heading to bed around 2am.  And I do the same.  Our body clocks mean we have an energy dip in the afternoon and then around 9:30pm suddenly get a mad rush of adrenaline which keeps us going for several hours to come. 

Two weeks like this and a crash comes.  Not normal exhaustion – I seem to be immune to yawning and heavy eyes these days, but just that vague zombie state where it takes an extra 5 minutes to make any decision and then a further ten minutes to actually get going.

I was hoping the crash would wait until Sunday when my in-laws are up to help with Alby and my work conference is done and dusted with.  But life doesn’t work that way and my zombie state has been in full swing all day.

If me being groggy around the edges wasn’t enough, Alby came back from nursery having skipped both of his naps.  Efforts by the nursery staff to get him down had the same results as my attempts this morning – utter failure.  He came home hungry and eager for cuddles.  He still wouldn’t sleep though, instead turned his fight against sleep to a fight against order upturning toy box, kitchen cupboards and bookshelves with a zeal I could only be impressed by.

When bedtime finally came he was so shot he cried the minute I got him out of the bath and continued until the bottle was in his mouth.  He didn’t even have the energy to fight against getting dressed.  It took him five minutes to get to sleep – a new record.  Meanwhile, I’m feeling awake for the first time all day.  Now, where’s the duster…