Snippets (of life): Exhaustion

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ex.haus.tion - noun
1. the act or process of exhausting
2. the state of being exhausted
3. extreme weakness or fatigue
4. the total consumption of something

It's reasonable to say that this is a house of complete exhaustion. After many weeks of 5 am wakings, the children are so exhausted that being with them is exhausting and all reserves of patience have now been exhausted. I am fatigued, they are tetchy and D is working long hours. It's a potentially explosive mix and when I could most use the meditative benefits of knitting, I am just too tired to concentrate. It might be time to start 'hexipuffing' again. And I need a workable plan for the kids. 

I think I'll try an alarm clock for My Boy - a digital one - not to wake him (I wish!) but so he can tell the time more easily - he currently has a gro-clock which changes from moon to sun, which was good when he was younger, but is becoming frustrating as he can't work out how much longer he should sleep - the dark mornings give no indication, so he gets up to ask. I'm not sure what will help Little Miss but I do need to get D on side with any plans for her as she makes a huge fuss (aka tantrum) until he succumbs to her charms and does whatever she wants. The kids agree to one thing when he's not here, and then they persuade him to do something different when he's getting up for work and I'm desperately trying to get more sleep - 5:30 is not a reasonable time for everyone to be up! I have to keep reminding myself that this too will pass.

This parenting lark really isn't easy. 

15 comments

  1. Eurgh I sympathise. The thing that worked for us was later bedtimes. DS was always an early riser but once we put his bedtime back he started to sleep later and then that's stayed when we've got him to bed earlier again.

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    1. We tried this a few times already, but unfortunately they STILL woke early, and were even worse by the afternoon.

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  2. Sympathies from me too, although I am at the other end now, and can't get the older ones to either go to bed, or get up in the mornings!! I long for a happy medium!
    Judy x

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    1. Oh dear! It seems to be such a problem, doesn't it. I admit to longing for the days when ours don't want to get up in the mornings, but I'm sure I'll hate it when the time comes.

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  3. My Son is an early riser, always was and always will be I think. He just has that kind of body clock unlike the girls who go to bed late and won't get up!Haven't found a solution. Funny how eldest will get up if it involves ponies or shopping?!
    xxxxxxx

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  4. No real solutions but lots of sympathy. My boys are now 6 and 7 with the youngest being a real early bird. We got him his own alarm clock, which stays illuminated, with instructions that the number must start with 6 before he can get up. If it is between 06:00 and 06:30 he can turn the light on low (so as not to wake DS1) and read his books quietly in bed. Seems to work - most of the time :)

    xx

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  5. This will most probably give me the parental look of disapproval lol but my children all have TV's in their rooms that they are aloud to watch on weekend mornings, that keeps them in bed til 9.00am (on the odd morning 10!) lol They look forward to this " treat" all week!! :)

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  6. It's a difficult one, as I bet is hard for the little one to understand why she can't get up if her dad is up. I wasn't allowed to get up until the milkman delivered the milk at around 7.30am. It worked for me because my room was at the front of the house and I could see if the milk was on the doorstep. Is there anything like that you could use, maybe like a neighbour's car being off their driveway or something.

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  7. We had a lamp on the landing attached to a timer for 6:30am and the kids had to stay quietly in their rooms till the light was on. Worked most of th e time, but now they're teenagers we struggle to get them up!

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  8. oooo yuk - does this time exist? Really feel for you. xx

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  9. That is the worst! My son has a small digital clock next to his bed so that he can see what time it is and when he can get out of bed. I've had friends who use the light method an other commented mentioned. That works well for younger kids. Good luck!

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  10. Definitely not easy! No one pre-warns you either, so you can be prepared! I don't have an early riser, but he goes to bed pretty late and also has a tendency to be up for 2-3 hours in the night... My OH chased him around soft play constantly for over an hour today, so hopefully he'll be too tired for that tonight!

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  11. A couple of things worth trying is maybe D could say goodbye at bedtime- my little man is on tenter hooks with sleep if he thinks daddy is going to work without a goodbye- but this does sometimes help

    Another tactic is to gently rouse (not fully wake) them just before they would wake up uber early-so they are still too tired to stay awake, then let them drift back to sleep, this resynching of the sleep cycle can get them to sleep past the 530 am wake up and go through until a more reasonable hour.

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  12. Wait until your worrying about the time they came in last night and struggling to get them out of bed in time for lunch! Saying which doesn't help just now I know. 5.30 is a crazy time, I'm not surprised you're all exhausted! I do sincerely hope things settle for you soon.

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  13. That is just crazy. You poor mum. You must feel like you have newborns. Do they wake up early b/c they go to bed early? My daughters go to bed around 8:30 on weekdays and 10-10:30 on the weekends.

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