Sleep Deprivation and Other Fun
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I’m a little groggy as I write this because my daughter was up most of the night with a bad cough. She has seasonal allergies and last night a huge wind rolled in, so voila! She coughed through most of the night and was so upset about it that she kept calling out to me and working herself into a frenzy. As most parents do, I did what I could to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. My overwhelming urge for a good night’s sleep was minuscule in comparison to my desire to help my daughter feel better.
That’s one of the crazy things about parenthood. Basic needs of parents such as sleep, food, and even going to the bathroom sometimes have to take a momentary back seat to the immediate needs of the kids. Before I had my first baby I never imagined there would be a person in this world who could force me into a sleep deprived, zombie-like state without me feeling resentment. So even though a few grumbles may have escaped my mouth when I was climbing out of bed for the umpteenth time last night to go soothe my daughter, on a higher level I knew I would stay up as long as she needed me to because I’m a parent and it’s what I do. No wonder young kids think the world of their parents…we’re superheroes. Our super ability is to stare into the face of sleep deprivation and laugh heartily (or cry heartily, depending on how sleep deprived we are).
The truth of the matter is that there aren’t many people in this world who love sleep as much as I do, but willingly give it up when necessary for the sake of my kids. Luckily it doesn’t happen as often as it used to when the kids were newborns, but it’s still relatively common for me to get woken up in the middle of the night by one of my darlings. Sleep deprivation may make me a little groggy and sometimes a little grumpy, but I’ll still leap out of my bed and to my kids’ bedside as long as they need me.
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