To Sleep, Perchance To Dream

Brian is doing even better, now. He has a nasty cough and low-grade fever, but is no longer wheezy, and he even gave a few little smiles this morning! His voice is weak and hoarse, which is just pathetic-sounding when he tries to cry. But he's greatly improved.

Now, we are realizing just how exhausted and sleep-deprived we really are. We took turns trying to get sleep for the last few days, but with 3 other not-so-healthy children in the house, it wasn't easy to do.

Two nights ago, when my "shift" ended at 2am, I handed Brian over to Dan, and fell into bed. About 30 minutes later, my deep sleep was interrupted by a small voice in my ear.

"Mommy?" whispered Amy. I reluctantly opened my eyes to see Amy's face about 3 inches from my own.

"I can't find my princess crown. You know, the one with the sparkles on it? I'm looking everywhere, but it's just so dark in my room. Can you come help me?"

I squinted at the clock. 2:28am.

I resisted the urge to scream, and tried to calmly send her back to her room.

I fell asleep. Deeply asleep.

Once again, the little voice whispered in my ear. "Mommy?"

Again, I glanced at the clock. 3:30am.

"Mommy, I was going to come and tell you that my throat hurts. But then, I gave a big yawn, and my throat felt better. I think that my throat only felt funny because a yawn got stuck in there. So now, I'm here to tell you that I actually feel fine right now".

I won't tell you how I responded this time. I'll leave it to your imagination. Needless to say, she didn't get out of bed again until morning.