You'll never sleep again!

When you're a new mother you know you won't get much sleep. What they don't tell you is that you will never sleep again! We made it through the nightly feelings, bed wetting, and nearly through the nightmare stage and yet I still don't sleep. Around 10pm I finally got the youngest to sleep, though he would only sleep with me because the pain from surgery was so bad. Around 11 I was awakened by being kicked from within. Around 12:30 I was awakened by a sick 7 year old. No sooner had I crawled back in bed, moved the sleeping 5 year back to his side, and drifted off than a loud bang awoke me. I frantically ran downstairs to my six year old to find that he had knocked his metal horseshoe that he insists on sleeping with off the top of the bunk bed. Awesome! Perhaps we should reevaluate this and buy him a stuffed horse! So I drag myself back to bed and again move the 5 year old. Before I could ever fall back asleep, the 7 year old is awake again. And no sooner had she gone back to ebd did the cat decide that she needed food right then and would not be waiting until morning. Needless to say, it's one of those days where I'm dragging a bit. Here's the thing though: it's not just sick kids and annoying cats that cause you to never sleep again. Mothers are gifted (though today I'm thinking more cursed) to be able to wake easily for their children. They hear noises in the night and fearless run towards the noise to protect their babies. They wake from intuition alone. I'm in no way saying fathers aren't important or gifted in their own ways, but it's a mother's love that keeps her moving on 1-2 hours of sleep, that has her sitting in the bathroom with a 7 year old that is whimpering from her belly hurting, that feeds the dang cat at 4am, and gets up to pack lunches and backpacks, and attempt to go to work. It's a good feeling to know that I will never sleep again!