Best of Times, Worst of Times

If you wake me up in the middle of the night, watch out. I am not friendly. The longer you keep me up, the less friendly I get, until I am just downright mad. It's not a good scene. I try to keep it under control, and just remove myself before raising my voice, but sometimes I can't restrain a frustrated growl. Surely you can relate, right?

Just after midnight I was rudely awoken by the little one climbing out of her bed, slamming her door and creeping to the kitchen to play with her new scissors. J intercepted her and then she came to snuggle with me. But she didn't sleep. I was drowsy enough to put up with this for a while, but after a couple of hours, and maybe a little growling, I just got up and went to lay on the couch.

After an hour or so, I sensed a disturbance in the force. I opened my eyes to see a little head, bobbing just over the top of the couch, making her way to the kitchen. It's a little eerie when she does this because her padded feet are practically silent on the wood floor and she looks like a floating shadow ghost baby. I've opened my eyes more than once from sleeping and jumped out of my skin, with her standing right at my face, looking at me. But this time I was onto her.

She snuck into the kitchen.

"A! Go to bed!" I say to her.

"No." she replies in a tiny but completely firm voice. She ain't doing it.

I get off the couch and drag myself into the kitchen. She is standing there at 3am, in the dark, her big eyes puffy, her hair a tangled mess, her cute little round toddler belly sticking out in her footie pj's, and she's holding her scissors. She has a total cow when I take them from her hands and put her back in bed.

"Mama took my scissors!!!" she wails.

Putting my sleep deprived monster mind aside for a moment, I had to smile, just a little, to myself. How cool is life when you are so excited about your new scissors that you feel compelled to get up in the middle of the night to cut paper? That's a trouble-free existence right there. I want her to have as much of a trouble-free life as she can when she's little, without making too much trouble for my life as a result. Is that so wrong?

We'll figure it out. I hope.

Also, the potty training, not going so well. She seems to be unlearning all the good habits she just learned, just to keep us on our toes. At least she's predictably unpredictable. Sigh.