FOMO

Fear Of Missing Out.  It's for reals, people.  And two of my kids got it.  I am just about at the end of my going to sleep rope. 

Except for Sylvia's colic, I think this is the worst she's ever been.  She just does not want to sleep--ever.  And she'll do everything to stave it off.  Singing, talking, screaming, crying.  And, since her little body is over tired, they're all adrenaline-filled, passionate, expressions so loud that I sometimes wonder if the neighbors are going to call the cops.  We just built a porch on our house and I kinda think that maybe our unconsciousness was telling us that we would need to put an exterior wall between the wailing and our sensitive ears. 

For the longest time, we were ignoring it all.  Supposedly, if she never has the expectation that someone will come, she'll quit doing it.  Yeah, except that one of her stall tactics is to ask to go to the potty.  [We still have her sleeping in diapers because we still have them in cribs--our attempt to protect any semblance of peaceful slumber.]  So, it seems inevitable that each time we ignore her pleas, which always includes a request to go to the potty, we end up changing the sheets in her bed.  So, we often give in.  And, I fear the desperation is fed.

Interestingly, she was better with the grandparents when we went out of town and also most nights that D has them by himself.  So, it must be me.  I think the only solution is for D to do bedtime every night...

Oh, and then there's Oscar.  Yeah, this kid won't eat or sleep, ignoring all his basic needs, if there are people to flirt with, toys to play with, or the world to watch turn.  He pretty much only falls asleep in his crib, the only exception being the car if he's REALLY tired.  Which he was today. 

Oscar refused his second nap of the day, so he was WIPED OUT by our dinnertime.  For the first time ever, I had him in one car and SylRafa were in the other with Papi.  He had JUST fallen asleep when we arrived at the restaurant for dinner.  I noticed the sun was in his face and moved the sun shade on his car seat and the plastic rubbing against plastic made his huge eyes pop open. This is also the major downside of a hybrid.  Shortly after we stopped, the car went quickly from idle to off.  So, there was no sitting while the motor ran for a few minutes to make sure O entered into deep sleep before extricating him from the car.  So much for my all-star parking place. I told D I was going to make a few laps until O really fell asleep so that we wouldn't bring an incredibly overtired baby and two toddlers into a restaurant for dinner.  It worked.  This time. 

At least Sylvia would often just cry for a few minutes as a baby (or at least that's all I remember) and wear herself out and go to sleep.  Oscar's refusal this afternoon was more like 45 minutes of fighting sleep before we gave in and rescued him from his crib.  No lie, I fear what he'll be like when he gets to Sylvia's age.  Somehow, I think having been through it once before isn't really going to prepare us for what's ahead.  The third one's the charm, right?