Bluh

One flaw about myself that I pretty much can't stand and can't figure out how to change: Insomnia. I'm am such a troubled sleeper. I see so many people, my husband included, who could take shots of espresso and then lay down and go to sleep. For me it's like walking a tight rope.

Liam, after 2 years of being a fantastic 8-8 sleeper, has decided that's not cool anymore. It's much cooler to go to bed at 9, not fall asleep until 9:45, wake up at 1 crying that he wants to sleep in our bed, wake up at 4 crying and saying 'just because' and then being up for the day by 6:30. Now if it were just that, I could probably handle it. A little blip in the sleep, no big deal. Not for me. I'm one of those people that just doesn't get tired before 11, just doesn't happen. Most night I'm lucky if I get to sleep before midnight. So by 1:00, right when you're getting into that deep sleep, to be woken up by a screaming child shoots your nerves to hell. And OF COURSE he wants Momma. He bypasses Josh's side of the bed and comes straight to me, so even if Josh does get up with him, he starts screaming because he wants me. Most of the time within half an hour I get back to sleep then. It's the 4:00 that kills me. Crying and whining that we push off as long as we can. We will let him lay in there for at least 5-7 minutes thinking it's a fluke. Then he starts getting crazy. So I go in to talk to him and he can't give me a reason why he's up. After almost half an hour I talk him down, get him back to sleep and I'm WIRED. Mainly because I'm irritated, but because my body thinks "You're going to lay down and it will take you 30-45 minutes to sleep all to be woke back up in an hour, why bother" So I'm up at 4, every day and by 7 at night I'm a grump. A grump who is tired but can't sleep.

I understand kids go through phases. He might be having bad dreams, the cat might be making a noise, he could be like me and be a troubled sleeper, I don't know. All I know is I can't take anything to make me sleep. Mainly because I don't like to take medicine if I don't have to, but also because if he does wake up like he has been them I'm up with a medicine hang over and that wouldn't help my problem.

I'm trying to work on myself this year. My flaws. Recognizing them and taking steps to better myself. Realizing that my sleeping issue adds to my mood issue is the easy part, fixing it ... not so easy. Any tips out there from the troubled sleepers?