Sleepless in Iowa
Yesterday I returned from a quick trip to central Iowa. We (me, B., P., G. and L.) left on Thursday morning and arrived at our destination at 4pm. Spent some time visiting my parents (who do not live in Iowa) and family friends. Woke up, drove to the meat locker to pick-up our side of beef and a side of beef for friends (the whole point of this trip) and came home, arriving at home at 4pm.
The trip went very smoothly, though I have had better nights. G. and L. are good travellers, but tend not to sleep in the car. They do babble at us, though. Consequently they were very tired by Thursday evening and fell asleep with the lights on while the rest of us were still getting ready for bed. They slept quite well until about 2:45am, when evidently a pinch fairy came through the room and attacked both girls. Why do I think this? Because both woke up screaming at exactly the same time for no apparent reason. (What is it about hotel rooms and screaming babies?) I stagger out of bed and retrieve the girls, putting them in my bed to comfort them. They get drowsy and I think we will just rest a bit and then I will put them back into their beds. (Two adults, one small child in bed works... one adult and two small children does not work. There are too many edges.) Well, I didn't move them soon enough because not long after, G. falls out of bed and starts screaming. I pick her up, comfort her and she calms down enough that I try putting her back into her bed. Just as I am about to take away my arms, L. falls out of bed and starts screaming, which causes G. to scream as well because she realizes I'm putting her down.
At this point, the whole thing is looking like a scene out of a farce and I am amused even as the girls scream around me. I retrieve L. and B. (who is wide awake now), picks up G. Both girls calm down. I lay L. down in her bed, and begin to take G. from B. which causes a new round of screaming from her and also starts L. off again. P. is now awake by this time and goes to get some water for both girls who are also wide awake. We give them drinks and since they are coherent, tell them it is time to go back to sleep in their own beds. Happily for all of us, they agree and we all go back to bed. Of course, after this much activity in the middle of the night, it is very difficult to get back to sleep. I don't like lying in bed, feeling tired, but not being able to fall asleep. I'm sure telling myself how important it was to fall asleep since I had a long drive ahead of me didn't help.
But we made it and my freezer is now full of beef. It's a bit too full perhaps, since whoever opens it next needs to be careful of frozen, falling beef.
The trip went very smoothly, though I have had better nights. G. and L. are good travellers, but tend not to sleep in the car. They do babble at us, though. Consequently they were very tired by Thursday evening and fell asleep with the lights on while the rest of us were still getting ready for bed. They slept quite well until about 2:45am, when evidently a pinch fairy came through the room and attacked both girls. Why do I think this? Because both woke up screaming at exactly the same time for no apparent reason. (What is it about hotel rooms and screaming babies?) I stagger out of bed and retrieve the girls, putting them in my bed to comfort them. They get drowsy and I think we will just rest a bit and then I will put them back into their beds. (Two adults, one small child in bed works... one adult and two small children does not work. There are too many edges.) Well, I didn't move them soon enough because not long after, G. falls out of bed and starts screaming. I pick her up, comfort her and she calms down enough that I try putting her back into her bed. Just as I am about to take away my arms, L. falls out of bed and starts screaming, which causes G. to scream as well because she realizes I'm putting her down.
At this point, the whole thing is looking like a scene out of a farce and I am amused even as the girls scream around me. I retrieve L. and B. (who is wide awake now), picks up G. Both girls calm down. I lay L. down in her bed, and begin to take G. from B. which causes a new round of screaming from her and also starts L. off again. P. is now awake by this time and goes to get some water for both girls who are also wide awake. We give them drinks and since they are coherent, tell them it is time to go back to sleep in their own beds. Happily for all of us, they agree and we all go back to bed. Of course, after this much activity in the middle of the night, it is very difficult to get back to sleep. I don't like lying in bed, feeling tired, but not being able to fall asleep. I'm sure telling myself how important it was to fall asleep since I had a long drive ahead of me didn't help.
But we made it and my freezer is now full of beef. It's a bit too full perhaps, since whoever opens it next needs to be careful of frozen, falling beef.
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