Voluntary Insomnia

My son, Colin, and I are experiencing the 3rd shift life at the moment. Most parents understand the late night rituals with the newborn. Unfortunatley, Colin is 3 1/2 and really wanted to "lay back down NOW!"

You should probably know why we are up this early/late. Colin is autistic. With autisim about 30% of kids have seizures. That is a pretty significant amount. To rule out any possibility of him having these they of course have to run a test. A sleep deprived seizure test to be precise. This required the poor kid to go to bed at 11 p.m. and get up at 2:30 a.m. His test is scheduled for 7 a.m.

Here are some play by play moments...CAUTION! A very angry 3 1/2 year old ahead!

2:15 a.m. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" The alarm clock has gone off. Todd reaches over and slaps snooze. I role over and mumble "I can't believe this..."

2:24 a.m. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" Todd slaps the snooze again. I role over on my back and stare at the ceiling. I wonder if Colin will take care of me in my old age?

2:33 a.m. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" I finally get out of bed. I go out to our living room and proceed to to pick a few things up. I turn on the computer and get pbskids.org up. T.V is on and armed with Bob the Builder DVD. The Fridge is now holding a 8 oz sippy cup of chocolate soy milk. And my worst nightmare is just laying there in bed..lurking...snoring....and drooling. I can't do it. How the heck am I going to keep this kid awake? (on a side note..no caffeine for him either..haha!)

2:37 a.m. "Colin! Colin! COOOOLLLLIIINNNN!" "Mommy, no no no...lay back down!" I pick Colin up and stand him in our kitchen. "Colin, let's go get a pop and take the trash down" "I LAY BACK DOWN NOW MOMMY!" Oh, Lord, what the heck have I gotten myself into?????

2:46 a.m. I have convinced the "grump" to go to Wal-mart.

3:00 a.m. We have entered Wal-mart and all ready the stares have started coming. What parent in there right mind would have there child in Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. Well...I am not in my right mind am I? I haven't slept! DUH!

3:23 a.m. Colin has grabbed a toy from the toy department and we are making our way to the ice cream aisle.

4:00 a.m. We are at the check out. The cashier so boldly and rudely ask me "Why do you have him out this late?" I should have really come up with a great answer, but it didn't come to me. I told the truth and then she decided to fill me in on her 4 kids medical history *NOTE Who cares?

4:15 a.m. Colin is in our living room playing with is new toy, I am eating cookie dough and have decided to start this blog. Todd is snoring in the bedroom. Morgan is sound asleep in her room.

4:41 a.m. I am now being kicked off the computer so my "grump" can play...

4:42 a.m. Morgan is awake.....oh geesh!

4:43 a.m. Can I go to bed yet?

4:44 a.m. I need coffee.....NOW!

4:45 a.m. I give up and play with Colin's new ball launching toy.

5:00 a.m. I finally can watch the news over infomercials. I was seconds away from buying a new set of culinary tools.

5:30 a.m. My friend calls me to let me know she is on the way to go to the hospital with me. I am glad that someone is going to keep us awake!

5:35 a.m. "Wakey, Wakey Todd!" Colin is in the bath and I am in desperate need of a shower.

6:20 a.m. We are on our way to the hospital

7:00 a.m. Colin is fighting with every last bit of energy he can muster against the EEG tech. My friend and I are holding him down with all our might...strong kid!

9:30 a.m. We are almost home and Colin is still awake!!

11:30 a.m. I am on my way to school..no sleep and all and Colin is still awake..Good Luck to my babysitter!

And that my folks is my voluntary insomnia story!