Dreaming of sleeping in....

 A long time ago, about 3 B.C. (before children) I participated in this activity called sleeping in. It was one of the most magical delicious things I have ever done and sometimes I dream of doing it again.  For those of you who are not familiar with this glorious wonder, it involves just laying in your bed and sleeping until your inner body alarm tells you it's time to wake up.  No external stimuli (ie an alarm clock, screaming child, or phone) is utilized to force your eyeballs open until you wish.  Can you imagine such a thing? I cannot.

  I'm not going to lie, it is one of the greatest sacrifices I have grudgingly been forced to offer on the motherhood altar. I love to sleep. When I sleep I am nice and I am happy. When I do not sleep I transform into a monstrous mothering wildebeest running on pure inconsistent grumpy emotion and impatience.  It's like my heart shrinks similar to the grinch when I do not get enough sleep. 

 (Grace modeling her similarity next to a pic of Liv at the same age.... it doesn't matter what anyone says, I live with 3 Garretts, 2 of them are just in female form)

For some reason I have been sleeping extra bad the last few weeks and it is not pleasant. I can't fall asleep and when I do fall asleep I have horrible dreams and then the girls like to have a 3 am hang out which I would rather not RSVP to but my participation is mandatory.  I was at Target and over Liv weeping on the ground about not getting a pack of gum after she had already bitten a snickers candy bar at the checkout through the wrapper which was making brown chocolate ooze come out the bite marks I heard her say, "I don't have any kids yet."  I don't know why I felt the need but I looked at her in her nice red target shirt and said very sincerely and said loudly (it was hard to talk in normal tones over Liv's whinese that she is fluent in) "well you should enjoy every single day that you have to sleep in because it's all over once you have kids.  She said, "Um, yeah I guess I never thought about that." Well, she should think about it.

 The next time you get to sleep in, you should stop and before getting out of bed think to yourself,
"I am currently experiencing one of life's sublimest gifts and recognize that this is a morning privilege."  Then you should spend at least 5 more minutes in deep meditative morning reflection pondering that before starting your morning routine.

These faces show how I feel when I need a nap.  The thing is, as much as I love sleep (which is right up there with how much I love shrimp, my grandma's house and my nightly bath), there is nothing more worth giving up anything and everything for to have these girls in my life. They are my life.

There will be plenty of time for sleeping in when they are gone.  And then they will be dreaming of sleeping in as they get up with their babies, it's what we call the circle of sleep deprivation life.  It makes me want to sing Lion King. Or just go to sleep.