"The legacy of your life will not be judged by how many emails you responded to or how well you maximized your lunch break. It will be measured, I believe, by how interruptible you were. How often did you let the world pull you away from yourself so you could focus on others? That's the question we need to answer. When we try to control everything, when we plan every last minute of the day, we get mad at life for throwing a wrench in our plans. . . But what if we expected these interruptions? What if we counted on them, deciding ahead of time how to act in these instances."
~ Jeff Goins
You may have noticed that a reoccurring theme in my household lately has been bedtime and sleep, or the lack of sleep to be more accurate. Getting my kiddos to go to bed in their own room the entire night is an ongoing battle.
We have gotten into a good initial bedtime routine that is going well right now: pj's on, teeth brushed, story, prayers, a song and then I sit with them for about 5 minutes before I leave to finish up my stuff for the evening.
But then we are averaging about 3 hours until the first attempt to come and crawl in bed with mommy. Depending on the night, this first call for mom comes right about the time I've started to fall asleep or I've been asleep for a good hour or more. Either way, I'm tired and never relish the idea of getting up out of bed again.
Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I LOVE my sleep. When I became pregnant with my oldest, one of my worries was how would I survive on such little sleep and still be a loving, got it all together mom. Because I have been told, although I deny it, that I may get just a tad cranky when going on little sleep. I had assumed that at three and seven we would be past the sleep deprived state, but alas we are not quite there. I survive by operating on a lot of coffee, and "a lot" is an understatement some days. So when these frequent nightly interruptions occur, it takes a lot of prayer and will on my part to be present, patient and positive. And I still fail miserably some nights.
When I read the challenge for day 4, I knew immediately that these nighttime wake up calls was an area where I could really apply this lesson. Sure enough, about 11:30 pm, my oldest came a calling, saying he couldn't sleep and was scared. This tired mama wanted to tell him to just go back to bed, but instead I walked with him back to bed and curled up next to him for awhile. I sang him a little song, said a quick prayer and hugged him close.
I do know that they both need to learn to sleep on their own and we are slowly, but surely getting there. Yet, I also know that one day he may not want me in his room at all or may feel he's too cool for a cuddle and hug from his mom. So I cherished the moment with him, and snuggled until I heard his breathing change to the peaceful, even breaths of sleep.
Don't get me wrong. In the few nights since, I have had the presence of mind to enjoy these snuggle moments and chances to calm fears with both of them, but I've also had the times where I still try to rush through them as quickly as possible so that I can crawl back in my own bed.
Where do you need to be open to the interruptions of others?
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