Sunday, September 6, 2009

Don't Autistic Kids Need Sleep?

Well, it's been about 11 nights where Simon, Rachel (or both) have decided that they don't need sleep. Well, that's not quite accurate -- there have been 2 nights where they have both slept, and one of those I managed to sleep.

The frustrating part is not only are they awake, but they're LOUD and fully awake. Simon (who is the culprit more often then Rachel) is sitting in his bed, telling stories (including finishing them with a heartfelt "The End"), counting, reciting the alphabet, singing songs......all of the cute things that he does, but at 4:30 in the morning, it just loses its charm. Miraculously, neither of them are waking Daniel.

Most of the time, I THINK that Simon is the one starting it all -- at least he's typically the one I hear first. But there have been times where I could've sworn that Simon was the only one up, and then went into their room to "fetch" him and seen that he was totally OUT and Rachel was the one up and playing in her bed.

I'm trying not to run in there every time I hear one of them up. They share a room (by my choice -- really want to encourage the growth of their "twin bond") and in the past, I have always been afraid of one waking the other. After going through the "Ferbering" process this spring, I realized that they are both more than capable of sleeping through each other's screams. Between that knowledge, learning (through painful experience) that when I appear in the doorway to be sure they are staying in their beds tends to awaken them more, and just being too (bleeping) exhausted, I've just been leaving them in their own room and to their own devices, hoping that they will fall back to sleep. Over the 9 nights of wakefulness, that has happened ONCE.

So, I'm going through my days ready to climb into bed at any time, and embracing caffeine in any form that I can get it. Not good for me, I know, but at least I'm surviving it.....

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