I've heard the term "Sleep when you're dead."  The person that coined that term must have been a  college-aged kid, who stayed up all night partying, and not a parent.

This afternoon, my youngest went down for a nap. She is usually pretty compliant, when it comes to settling down - she knows the drill, and accepts it. After I put her into her crib, it was time for my oldest to get some shut eye herself. So I hoped.

Instead, she had other plans. Run around the house like mad. Get into my husband's CDs. Tear off her diaper, as she had dirtied it (potty-training awaits in the near future, but that is another hub). The term 'Run Amok' comes to mind, when describing this child.

I attempted to redirect her to her bed five times before giving up, feeling the hysteria begin to build within me. It's Monday, and Mondays I have the hardest time getting her to fall back into routine. It's not that we don't follow protocol on the weekends. It's just that weekends, there are so many other things to deal with - catching up on housework, grocery shopping and other errand-running, basic maintenance and repairs around the house, the never-ending mountain of laundry, and maybe squeezing in a bit of leisure time as a family. So the established nap time kind of gets overlooked - we let down our guard, or are out and about, or just don't bother with the power struggle. We let her run amok on the weekends.

So finally, this Monday afternoon, my oldest is settling down. And her eyelids get heavier and heavier, and now she is asleep! And I am so excited, because now, I can take a nap. I need sleep. I always need sleep, and lately I feel like I need it more than usual. The late nights with my youngest. The early mornings, off to work. The impossibility of catching up on sleep on the weekends, as there is just too much to do! And as I stretch out on the couch for just a couple minutes of relaxation, maybe a catnap, a soft cry. My youngest is up. And now, I am up again, too. Sure, I can sleep when I am dead. But I really wanted to sleep right now!

Another irritating term I've heard: "Parents should sleep when the baby sleeps." So what if you have 2 babies?