"...her candle goeth not out by night.......Pro 31:18
I overdid it with the toddler, running around all day into the evening, and as the lights went out, she began covering her ears, crying. Her low-level cold had backed up into her wee ears and now was forming into too much pressure. She was so tired from the events of the day in addition to missing out on a decent nap, she alternated between thrashing her body as a codfish pulled from the deep and sleeping in short fits of time.
I quickly administered the usual course of treatment: garlic oil in the ear (she screamed), remedies on the tongue (she took), and chamomile in her water (she drank). Unfortunately she was just too wound and could not relax, even in our bed. Hubby took to the store and around 11pm came home with a pain-relieving drug that we hoped would mellow her out enough to fall asleep. She did.
I woke from every cough, weezy snore, knobby knee and rolling head. Her little hand would plop onto my face. I would bunker down into my covers only to get them kicked off. I don’t remember when I fell asleep, but I do remember hearing the baby cry as if through a fog, and got up to feed and quiet him, twice. Between the baby and the toddler, my snippets of sleep served mostly as a tease.
Isn’t this something that characterizes motherhood? When a newborn baby is around, one of the first questions from people’s mouths is, “Are ya sleeping yet?” Part of embracing motherhood is receiving the watch watches.
It does not have to be a time of bitterness, although I have been there (“I NEED my SLEEP!”). Here are some verses that any mother with babe in arms can soak in when the stars are dressed in the skies:

Psalms 17:3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Isn’t it wonderful that God Himself will visit us in the night? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to look up and, as Peter, find the Lord looking at me as I spew out bitterness to a wee one for keeping me up.

Psalms 42:8 Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

If we are following Jesus, we are to do what He does: command our lovingkindness to our children in the daytime, and sing our songs to them in the night....." read the rest here

Labels: Another Day, Family