What Happened To Sleeping Through the Night?

I'm one of those moms.

You know -- the ones who wake up long before the sun just to enjoy a few hours of quiet alone time before the rest of the house gets going.

It was nothing for me to wake up at 4am not so long ago. My husband was waking up then to get ready for his shift at work, so the alarm was going off anyways. I would get up, get his lunch ready for him, and then do what I wanted. Watch some shows on the DVR. Catch up on blogs. Read a good book.

Over time, that 4am wake-up turned into 5am when the husband's job changed. But I still had no problem getting out of bed, even after a measly six hours of sleep.

Until the summer hit -- and weeks of never-ending thunderstorms rolled into our area.

See that little girl up there?!

She's decided after 3.5 years that she just doesn't like the sound of thunder. She wakes up at the drop of a hat, walks all the way across the house to find me, and wants to rock or snuggle on the couch until its done.

And I have no problem with that. We usually curl up on the couch and both fall asleep for a couple of hours, until the storm passes and I can put her back to bed in her own room.

The only problem with this?

Being only 3 years old, she has convinced herself that the storms are going to happen EVERY SINGLE NIGHT now ... and waking up and coming into my bedroom is now a major habit, and not just a happenstance.

Its almost nightly now, three, four, sometimes five times a night I feel a little body at the edge of my bed, only to realize its 130am, and there is no rain, wind OR thunder.

"Mommy ... wake up. I wanna rock ..." she'll say. Once I sit up, she realizes it was unnecessary, as there is no weather that woke her, and she runs off before I can even say anything, leaving me to follow in the dark.

I love the girl ... and really don't mind cuddling with her. But every couple of hours, when I just want a little sleep, is getting ridiculous.

I no longer know how to keep her in bed. She sneaks out every five minutes after I first put her down -- asking if she heard thunder. Knowing full well that there is no storm, and she's just being sneaky. And it continues all night. By 630am, she's ready to wake up ... and grumpy. All day long. Because she hasn't had any good sleep.

And neither has her mom!

*Sigh* Just when I get the youngest sleeping through the night ...

So its safe to say, when the alarm goes off now at 5am? I roll over, push my husband out of bed, and hog all the pillows. He gets ready in the semi-dark, and doesn't come back to wake me until 6am. If this lack-of-sleep trend continues, that man is going to have to figure out how to make his own lunch ... because I am NOT going to wake up for ANYONE!