Damn You, Superman!

I have been a little lax with regards to posting recently. Due to the end of the road trip, work
getting crazy, some computer issues, but mostly our old friend "Sleep Issues" returning to the fold full force.

I figured that we were in for a tough go as there were a whole bunch of transitions that were occurring at the same time; Kara leaving, Tanner and Faith starting a new day care, Jake starting kindergarten, Marisa starting her new job in earnest and the travel starting with it, etc. Transitions have always produced sleep issues for Jake, and Tanner has followed suit as he has gotten older.

The transitions mentioned above were one thing, but the silliest thing started this new episode of sleeplessness off. Here's the event that served as a jumping off point for the last two weeks of sleep struggles:

We had put the boys down to bed a couple of weeks ago and we were downstairs watching TV when they both started screaming out of the blue. Screaming like they were on fire. Marisa and I ran upstairs and found them both up at the top of the stairs crying and screaming saying that there was someone in their room (the proverbial bad guy..). We pulled both of them downstairs and while I tried to calm them down, Marisa went to investigate. (Yes, the same Marisa that once screamed out in the middle of the night because she couldn't find the light switch in the hallway!) . The boys said they heard a breathing or scratching noise and were convinced it was a bad guy. I yelled up to Marisa to check the fish tank as it sometimes makes a suction like noise when the pump well is low on water. She listened in that area and said she thought it was the plug strip that all the fish tank stuff was plugged into and that she was afraid of it starting a fire. So, no big deal, I went out to the garage and got a new plug strip to change it out. While I was bent over unplugging the plugs (the boys still terrified, screaming, and trying to get out of their room). I heard the scratching noise you were talking about. I looked up and the push pin on the Superman poster had fallen out and when the fan hit it, the corner of the poster was scraping the wall and making a noise. Mystery solved.

Even though I was able to demonstrate that there was a logical reason behind the noise, that there was nothing to be scared of , bedtime has been a nightmare of fights and temper tantrums, yelling and tension. Neither of the boys have slept thru the night since, both waking up scared, They both have dark circles under their eyes and are clearly sleep deprived. The behavior struggles went on all day yesterday, until Marisa and I didn't know what to do - except go eat a lot of ice cream. But you know it is a bad day when you've already been eyeing the liquor cabinet and it's not even 9AM yet. Everyone had a good night sleep last night, though, and today was SO MUCH BETTER... so I guess we will discontinue the Craigslist ad we put on listing: Two Boys: Free to Good Home. But until we get thru this little bedtime warfare with several straight nights of blissful sleep....

Damn you Superman....damn you!