You would think that on a blog about being the father of twins that this is going to be a gripe about how I don’t get enough sleep. Not so. The boys love their sleep and should they wake up at night, Hannah finds it easier to go and deal with them herself rather than kicking me into some state of awareness [I’m a VERY heavy sleeper].
This post is about how the boys are coping [or NOT coping] with less sleep than they would like.
Over the past fortnight of our holiday, morning time crept later and later. We had cut out their naps, we weren’t particularly strict about bed time and we most definitely were not jumping out of bed in the morning to wake them up. It was only when we woke one morning at 9.45 and realised that they would effectively have jet lag when we woke them three hours earlier when we had to go back to work that I started setting an alarm. The problem there is that I have a knack of hitting snooze on the alarm without being fully awake.
The first morning back into the work routine went well enough. That evening Hannah had a camogie match so I picked the boys up from the child minder and was going to bring them out to stand on the side of the pitch and cheer their mother on. By the time I stopped at our house for a bite to eat and a change of clothes they had already dozed off. I left them in the car while I got my things together and brought them down to their Nana Sheila’s for a brief stop before we went to see the game. My thinking was that they would be up later than usual so there was no harm in them getting a half hours sleep. That might have been true if they were napping but by the time I took them out of the car they were deep into their night’s sleep and not one bit happy about being disturbed. The only thing that kept them quiet was the soothing glow of the TV so I parked them on the couch while I got something to eat. When I suggested leaving the house to go to the game Monkey Boy kicked off and would not be comforted. I offered every bribe I could lay my hands on but MB’s firm [and very vocal] refusals ended with myself and Fat Chops arriving to the pitch at halftime while he stayed and watched TV with his Nana.
I didn’t realise at the time but this was a sign of things to come. I picked them up again last night and they were fine when I arrived but then they started fighting over a Barbie doll [they’re very macho like their father!]. Then they fought with everybody over anything. After ten minutes trying to calm them enough so I could get them into the car I tried bribery again.
“If you stop crying and get in the car we will stop in the shop and get you something nice” seemed like a reasonable approach to me but Fat Chops disagreed.
FC - DON’T WANT SOMETHING NICE FROM THE SHOP, WANT SOMETHING NICE FROM THE FRIDGE.
Me - OK, I’ll get you something from the fridge. Do you want ice-cream?
FC – DON’T LIKE ICE CREAM. I WANT CHOCOLATE!!
Me – No problem, stop crying and I will get you some chocolate.
Then as FC finally slows down his sobbing I get;
MB – NO CHOCOLATE. I WANT ICE CREAM.
Me – Calm down, we can get you some ice cream.
FC – NOT ICE CREAM!
Me – No ice cream for you, I’ll get ice cream for Monkey Boy.
MB – I WANT ICE CREAM
Me – Yes, no problem, just calm down and stop crying…
FC – Chocolate now?
Me – We’ll be at the shop in a few minutes.
FC – WANT CHOCOLATE NOW!!!
Me – Calm down, it will only be a few…
MB – ICE CREAM NOW?
FC – CHOCOLATE NOW??
In the end, I muttered something about chocolate ice-cream and just threw them both in the car and turned the radio up to drown out the racket from the back seats. I knew I wasn't winning this round.
The rest of the evening went in a similar vein. Hannah had cooked pizza for dinner and the boys as usual wanted to sample some. I have no problem sharing but they managed to take offense when I offered them a piece with pineapple on it, when I offered them a piece without pineapple on it, when their brother [allegedly] got more than they did, when I didn’t give them a drink quickly enough and when I had the bare faced cheek to try and eat some of my own dinner.
Needless to say, they both went to bed early that night and the afternoon nap has been reinstated!
