Hope Won't Go To Sleep

Ohhh... It is 1:30 in the morning and our little darling is so wired! I don't know why, but she just won't fall asleep. She has kept her big sister up (they are reenacting scenes from Teen Titans!) and mom is angry. Dad is too easy-going, mom says. I am up at this time because of my night-job and so don't sleep well at night anyway.

This all blows up in moms face, as she is very pregnant and needs her sleep. Unfortunately, Hope doesn't see it that way. Hope, of course is in her own little world and sees nothing wrong with monkeying around on the furniture and screaming at the top of her lungs like a banshee. This is midnight, now. I get her attention by calling for her to come to me where I am at, by my chair. I tell her to sit by my chair. This often calms her, but you gotta watch her 'cause she will take off like a rocket and get in trouble again.

That is where I mess up. I fail to keep my eye on her and she is at it again making noises that only a sleeping, pregnant mother could hate!
And sure enough, out the bedroom door springs Amanda, with spanking rod in hand. She says she is fed up, has had enough (she even
glares at me), and threatens the children with fury and gestures to go to bed.

This works! Hope, as ordered, flees the living room and slinks off to her room, hiding her bottom all the way.

I later visit Hope to see that she is still awake, but quietly petting the hand of a huge stuffed teddy bear on her bed. She begs me to not turn out the light, so I leave the hallway bathroom light on. I can hear her whispering "t-e-e-n, tit-ans, teen-tit-ans, let's go!" under her breath. Grace is under the covers, about to fall asleep...

Lately every night is like this.