Tag: children

The Five Stages of Sleep Deprivation

I have some good news and some bad news.

Good news: there have been signs of progress in E’s sleep training. Last week, on consecutive nights, he slept straight through until 4:30 and 5:15.
Bad news: he woke up three times during each of the following two nights.1

Good news: E only woke up once last night.
Bad news: it took him close to an hour and a half to fall back asleep.

Good news: T has been able to get a better night’s sleep because I’ve been getting up to put E back down at night.
Bad news: there is no bad news here. T chases after E all day, every day; I can deal with being tired at work.  Continue reading “The Five Stages of Sleep Deprivation”

Where Did You Come From?

E somehow ended up in our bed last night.

The “somehow” seems confusing, I know. E is a toddler, almost 20 months old, so we assume that he didn’t make it out of the crib on his own. His upper body strength is actually pretty impressive, as I’ve seen him basically do pull-ups on his bookshelf and hoist his body up over the railing on his crib.1 That being said, it’s hard for me to picture him getting over the railing while still holding on so that he could drop down to the floor and land on his feet without hurting himself.  Continue reading “Where Did You Come From?”

“Don’t Cry, It’s Only a Joke.”

I see a lot of different things when I’m working.

I have three separate jobs, so this is to be expected. I work full-time as a social worker, providing case management and counseling services to families who have children with mental health and behavior problems. I also have two part-time jobs at my local synagogue, teaching religious school classes to middle school students and leading junior congregation services a few times each month.  Continue reading ““Don’t Cry, It’s Only a Joke.””

Miracle of Miracles

I don’t remember my family hosting a lot of big parties when I was young. We had family parties here and there through the years and we hosted a couple of birthday parties for my brothers and for me, but we didn’t have many huge gatherings at our house. The biggest gathering I remember was for my brother’s brit milah1 just after he was born. When I was in middle and high school, my family joined with a group of other families from our synagogue and we started a rotation of holiday parties and other Jewish activities, but we only hosted a few of them. My wife’s family, on the other hand, went all out for everything. They would have between 20 and 30 people at their house for every holiday and would make enough food for twice that many.2 I’m not saying her family did holidays better than mine, just that we had different experiences growing up. And I like to think that now that we’re married and have started our own family, we’ve done a pretty good job of combining traditions from each of our experiences.  Continue reading “Miracle of Miracles”

Looking For The Right Words

Note: This post includes some derogatory language that some people might find offensive. I explain why I chose to use it again later in the post, but I’ll say it here, as well. I used these words as part of a broader analysis of language and its relationship to race and I thought that not spelling them out in full would distract from the message of the post. I apologize in advance if anyone is offended by my use of the words as they are. Please feel free to comment in the space below, to write to me using the contact form here or email me at sleepingonedge@gmail.com. Thanks again for reading.
I take language seriously.

I take pride in the fact that I use correct grammar and that I make spelling mistakes less often than the Cubs win the World Series.1 I still approach the quality of my writing with the same focus and intent to produce a polished product, even though this is a blog, as opposed to a research paper or journal article. You’re taking the time to read my work; the least I can do is give you something thoughtful and well-written to occupy your time.  Continue reading “Looking For The Right Words”

Strep Throat Can Be Good For You

I’ve written a number of times about my admiration for the work my wife puts into being a parent. She’s home with E every day, feeding him, playing with him, cleaning him up, cleaning up after him, making sure he doesn’t set the apartment on fire1 and everything else a mom needs to do. She does an amazing job, even when she’s not feeling her best.

Which brings me to last week.

You might have noticed that’s it’s been about two weeks since I published my last post. The first week was just really busy with work, as I had to prepare a presentation for the entire department, in addition to my usual responsibilities of home visits and other paperwork.  Last week was a little different, though. T wasn’t feeling well on Monday evening and woke up Tuesday morning with a fever above 103, so I took a personal day to look after E and let her recover a bit.  Continue reading “Strep Throat Can Be Good For You”

Lesson #3: The Chicago Bears

I don’t spend a lot of time watching sports.

This is not an entirely new development; it’s been a gradual decline over the past five or six years or so. And over the last two years or so, my live sports consumption has dwindled to almost nothing.

There are a few reasons for this trend. The most significant, of course, is that I just don’t have as much time as I used to. Between a full time job and two part time jobs, plus actually wanting to spend some quality time with my wife and son, it’s not easy to carve out a three hour block (at least) to watch a game start to finish. I’m pretty sure the last game I tried watch from the beginning was Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals and we all remember how that turned out. I barely even watch highlights anymore, although that has a lot to do with my disappointment in what Sportscenter has become, as opposed to just not having the time.  Continue reading “Lesson #3: The Chicago Bears”

Parenting TRUM

This post is going to look a bit different. I think it’s still worth reading (I did write it, after all), but I’m just giving you a heads up.

No, the title is not a typo; I did not forget the “p” at the end. TRUM is an acronym that stands for “Thoughts, Ramblings, Useless information and Musings.” Matthew Berry is a senior fantasy sports analysts at ESPN and TRUM is an acronym he created to structure some of his columns when he has a bunch of things to write about but none big enough to fill up their own column. I’ve been compiling a number of these types of notes myself, so I figured I’d do a blog post TRUM-style.  Continue reading “Parenting TRUM”

A Quiet Baby

I assume many people (especially those without children) think that a quiet and content child is a good thing.  Quiet means the child is sleeping, reading a book or perhaps playing with a quiet, likely educational toy.

Think again.

As parents of a very active almost 16 month old we learned oh-so-quickly that a quiet child is not a good thing. A very quiet child is a very bad thing.  If you find yourself saying, “It’s really quiet. Where’s E?” then you’ve already lost.

A quiet child only means one thing: trouble.  Continue reading “A Quiet Baby”

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