Bad Tuesday

Not to be confused with Fat Tuesday, though we do have a lot of cheap, shiny necklaces laying around.

Maggie won't sleep today. This is a continuation of Maggie Won't Sleep Monday and Maggie Won't Sleep Sunday. It's a trilogy of sleeplessness and I lay it all at the doorstep of church.

Were I an atheist or a pagan, I suppose I would stay home Sunday morning watching real estate shows and NASCAR on TV. Instead, we haul our little brood to church each week, where the littlest one refuses to sleep. Church occurs about 30 minutes into when she would normally be napping, and that nap is usually 90 minutes long, so this is a pretty big interruption of sleep for her. Generally she takes 3 naps a day, but on Sunday she only takes 2, an early afternoon and a late afternoon one. She has been taking 3 naps for quite some time now, but this week she finally decided to give up that 3rd nap, so on this particular Sunday she took only one nap. ONE. This was not enough and despite my rigid adherance to her nap schedule on Monday, she is now veeerrrrrry overtired and napping like caca. It will take until Wednesday, at least, to get her back on track, and she won't really be back in her groove until Friday. Just in time for church to roll around again on Sunday.

This is where I would like to address the people who told me that the third baby is so mellow, so 'along for the ride.' Bull. She is the least flexible baby I've ever produced; not especially tolerant, not happy to be carted around wherever we go. She naps in her crib -- that's it. Nowhere else. She hates being along for the ride, i.e. in the van, and since she has recently discovered screaming, we are all aware of her displeasure. Three quarters of any car trip involve cringing as the screaming crescendos to almost unbearable decible levels.

The only place she has shown any degree of flexibility is in the church nursery, where she is delighted to be left. We think this is because the kids there are gentler than her siblings and she probably feels safer there than in our living room.

Of course, since she was in the nursery 48 hours ago, she now has a cold.

I am typing this, listening to her howl through the monitor because she's had so little sleep today. I am also periodically telling my other two to be quiet, be quiet! BE QUIET!!. It's not really a relaxing place to be today, our house. Thank God they've finally agreed to watch Peter Pan and give me 77 minutes of peace.

How come, if God wants us to go to Church, He doesn't make the way there smoother?