The Edwins and Sleeping

On Sunday night it was pretty easy to put the kids to bed, but last night was another story!

zonked!

L: Aug '02. Melissa (then 3) fell asleep watching a movie. She was in this position for a long time.

Clearly, Edwins big and small avoid sleep. Melissa has always been nocturnally-inclined and disliked bedtime (as most kids do, but this one especially). She crawled out of her crib in the middle of the night in protest, she'd make up excuses to be up in the middle of the night ("I want to get some water"), and she didn't nap during the day. It's probably one reason why she's a touch small for her age -- Michael sleeps more and has caught up to her in size long ago. They're often mistaken for being fraternal twins. But when Melissa is ready for sleep, she can sleep anywhere! She can even fall asleep sitting up!

That definitely runs on the Edwin side of the family. My brothers are notorious for being able to fall asleep anywhere. I've caught Allan dozing off in a chair countless times, and Alvin has fallen asleep mid-sentence. I kid you not. Me, I've fallen asleep in my computer chair many times. I can sleep on planes, trains, and one time I fell asleep and nearly went right off the back of my friend's motorcycle when we went camping on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Surely this can't be such a bad thing (being able to sleep anywhere, not falling off a motorcyle!), especially when faced with the alternative: insomnia.

Miss Maddy

The kids, on the other hand, have to sleep. Not only do they stunt their growth by not recharging their batteries often, they get incredibly cranky and obstinate. Like last night. We were playing Candyland, and Melissa, who was about to make her last move and win the game, thought twice and tried to postpone it by making up a new rule for how the game should end. Then Holy Moly, when I said it was time for bed, you would've thought I said I was dead... instead.

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they cried in unison.

I pointed to the window: "Look! It's night-time! It's dark!"

Tears welled up in their eyes, and Maddy had an absolute FIT! She ran around the house, wailing like a banshee, looking at me like I was the devil incarnate. She threw things while screaming, "It is NOT NIGHT-TIME! It's MORNING-TIME!!"

I've seen many a tantrum, of all shapes and sizes. In fact, there were some just the day before. But the magnitude -- and amplitude -- of these tantrums were of the kind I have not experienced in a very long time. Even the babies were getting upset, just listening to their older siblings' wailing and gnashing of teeth. The situation was beyond my capability, so I called in The Mommy™ and went to comfort and amuse the twins instead.

Stay tuned for tonight's exciting episode: Haircuts (uh oh)