To Bed or Not to Bed

Bed times around here are fairly consistent. Jacob goes to bed around 6:00 and Hannah around 7:00. Jacob doesn't always stay asleep, but it usually only takes a few minutes to settle him again, and then a kid-free evening awaits.

The other night, with Scott being out, I had lovely plans for my evening. I was going to finish Jacob's baby book and then work on my novel, with a steaming cup of tea at my side. Instead this is what I got:

Jacob went to bed at 6:00. Before Hannah was in bed, I'd had to settle him at least 3 times. Then Hannah went to bed at 7:00. Jacob woke up again. I was calming him down and I could hear Hannah calling to me from her room. I finished with Jacob and went to see what she wanted. Got her back into bed and went downstairs. Then had to go right back up to Jacob. And then back to Hannah who had decided she didn't like her P.J.s and was trying to change them. Back downstairs. Up again. Now Hannah had lost the letter "O" under her bed. You can see the pattern here. Back to Jacob, then to Hannah who was scared of the flamingo that had come to visit her through the window.

So, while I didn't ever get to sit down, I did get some fabulous exercise. Sprinting down the hall, leaping over the baby gate, flying up the stairs, all the while hearing a strange internal voice in slow-motion shouting, "Nooooooooooooo..." as I raced against time to prevent one child from waking up the other (normally not a huge concern for me, but I'd been putting in a Herculean effort to get these kids to sleep). By 9:00, my dreams of a productive evening had been dashed. I decided to cut my losses and take a book to bed for an early night instead. That way I wouldn't have to climb any more stairs in the inevitable event of another wake-up.

Oh well, tomorrow is another night...