Things That Wake Up In The Middle Of The Night ...

....even though they are way past the infant stage and should be sleeping all night, every night. 

At 35 years old, I have given-up on the dream of sleeping more than 4-5 hours without waking up. 
Every night one or more of the following occurs:

• I have to pee more than once 
• My husband gets up to pee therefore waking me up
• One of my 4 children gets up for various reasons:bad dreams, bathroom accidents, or (my favorite) sleepwalking.

Back in the day, I thought once my children got to be past 2 yrs. old or so, they would all sleep and therefore I could pick up right where I left off--sleeping 8 or more hours a night.
Ha!!  I think this is one myth that should be discussed in every parenting book!! 

Last night, I was out grocery shopping--alone.  That left my husband home with the kids.  He decided to let them watch Spiderman 3.  Normally, I wouldn't even think twice.  My kids love Spidey.  No biggie,right? 

Until I find Jarrett hiding in his room, crying because he doesn't want to watch it anymore. 
Because of this:

The black Spidey.  Evidentally, he was scary enough to not only freak out Jarrett but Jeven as well,
as they were both up during different parts of the night. Jarrett because he said he wanted the light on (when you share a room with 2 other brothers, leaving the light on isn't an option).  Jeven because he wanted to sleep with us. (one thing I do know--if you let one child sleep with you, even one time,it just opens the door for the others to follow!)

The last "scary" movie my husband let the kids watch was Ghostbusters. 
Again, that seemed to affect Jarrett more than the other kids. 


I can remember being made fun of in school because my parents wouldn't let me watch Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

I too had problems sleeping after watching anything remotely scary (I think it's a sign of higher intelligence, actually). 
So, part of me is not mad that my kids wake me up because they're scared. And, another part of me laughs when my very tired, 7 yr. old daughter sleep walks and attempts to pee in the bathroom sink (she'd die if she knew I told you that).
But, the other part, just really, really, really wants to sleep!