Why parents don't sleep :-)

Last night's comedy of errors began about an hour after I went to sleep. Naturally, I'd crept into bed later than I meant to. That's often true for parents, because we don't want the coda to our evening to be cleaning up the kitchen, packing the kid's lunches, and brushing our teeth. Why not have a little fun buying gardening tools online or watching reruns on the Discovery Channel (I hope your life is more exciting)? About an hour after I'd finally fallen asleep, Sian appeared at my door. Apparently a beetle had gone into her bed, crept onto her blanket, and was now deceased. I hate touching bugs, but, in the hierarchy of parent and child, this job usually falls to the serf (the one who has to get up first and needs their sleep the most). Bleary-eyed, I stumbled to my feet, armed myself with a paper towel, and disposed of not one, but two dead insects in her room. Ordering her to sleep, without delay, I went back to bed. As I was finally about to slip back into slumber, she reappeared. Still resistant to what I sensed would be the natural outcome of these apparitions, I told her to read until she was tired. Mirabile dictu, she picked up a book on her required summer reading list, and went back to bed. An hour after that, I was once again awakened. "Mom, I've been reading, and I still can't sleep." At this point I gave in, and allowed her to curl up on my bed. Why the parent's bed has such a mystical attraction for children is beyond me, but I was reasonably confident that we'd both get a couple of hours of shut-eye before the alarm went off. However, at this point, my son opened the door. The poor kid hadn't gotten a word out before I said irately that there was no way he was sleeping in my bed, Sian was here already and I needed to get some rest. "I'm so sorry, I just wanted to use the bathroom," he apologized (why he needs to use my bathroom when he's got a perfectly good one across the hall is another mystery). Colin returned to his room, Sian went to sleep, and silence reigned. I decided to get up and make sure things in the household were organized (who knows why? I was now wide awake) before I, too, tried to capture a few moments of rest. Opening the door to the bedroom, I hit the cat on the head. Attracted by all of opening and shutting doors, she had awakened and decided that she, too, had a need for attention. Fortunately, she didn't appear to hold it against me. So here I am, in the afternooon, finally wide awake. Only three and a half more hours before the darlings return. I wonder what pleasures tonight will bring!