We have a rule in our home that the kiddos need to stay in their own beds until 5am. After that point they can come snuggle with us before our family’s 6am wake up time.  So last night before going to bed I set all of our clocks back by an hour for the time change. I knew it would cause confusion with their internal body clocks. And it sure did!

At 4:44am Natalie came to my side of the bed and said “mama, I’m not here to snuggle (i.e. please don’t get mad at me for being out of bed before 5am), but it’s soooooooo strange I’ve been looking at my clock for so long now and it never changes from 4 o’clock.” I chuckled to myself. So her internal alarm woke her up at 5ish, which really now all of a sudden was 4ish on the clock on her nightstand. But how could that be? Her little internal clock knew it was time she could come snuggle with mama. But her nightstand clock said it was too early. And so there she lay in her bed for nearly 45 minutes…..waiting…..waiting…..waiting for the face of that clock to give her permission to get out of bed for her much cherished snuggle time. “It never changes from 4 to 5, mama!” Yes, Natalie, it will change soon…..go to bed and keep watching it. 🙂

And dutifully she returned to bed like a sweet little angel. It made me so proud. But when the clock finally said 5:00 she came excited to snuggle. But that’s when the confusion arose for Jacob. His internal body clock said it was time to rise and shine. Huh?! What?! The clock only says 5:00. How can that be??? His internal clock knew it to be 6am- time to start the day.

I love it that my kids’ bodies have fallen into such regular patterns of sleep. I love it that they have internal body clocks. Sleep is such a gift. Awhile back Natalie had bad nightmares that kept waking her up throughout the night. That evening reminded me of how torturous interrupted sleep can be and the havoc it plays on you the next day. Sleep deprivation, thankfully, is a time long gone from those infant days of theirs when I would wake up multiple times throughout the night for their feedings. Oh the joy of having children that are growing up and can sleep for 12 hours straight!!

Talking about sleep, I also want to note the hilarious way that the kiddos get carried to bed by daddy. I don’t even remember how or when he started this with them. For several months now he’s been carrying them from the living room to their room while he holds them completely upside down. Imagine their feet held tight in Steve’s hands at his chest level. And then there they hang with their heads almost touching the floor. The routine consists of Steve first carrying them like that to say goodbye to Charlie, our chocolate labrador retriever, then to say goodbye to Annie, our yellow labrador, then to the location of their sibling to say goodbye and then off to bed. I have nooooooooo idea how it is that Steve can hold onto their ankles/legs that tightly without letting them fall along the way. Okay, yes, I know….he’s strong! I can’t for the life of me imagine carrying them like that with their bodies swaying, them laughing their head off, for a tour through the house as they say goodnight to everyone. It’s something hilarious that Steve does with the kids and they eat it up! Don’t know how long he’ll be able to carry them like that to bed.