Dear Ella,
Happy Birthday Love.
I can’t believe you’re three.
Wait, yes I can. I haven’t slept for three years.
For the last 1,095 nights I have been up and down, kicked and thrashed. I have been flooded with pee. I have run up and down the steps all hours of the night getting you bologna…peperoni’s….Kool-Aid….ANYTHING that might give me twenty more minutes of precious sleep.
Dazed, confused and waking up with dried pepperoni’s stuck to my head. You never gave in, all those nights, seeing me suffer.
Then I finally said to myself, “You know what, she may never sleep all night. She may never sleep in her own bed but at least I’ll know if she’s late for curfew when she comes home from a date…AND IT’S OK. IT DOESN’T MAKE ME A BAD MOTHER!”
I’ll give it to ya kid, you’ve got stamina.
A week after your third birthday, you decided I’d been punished enough. You slept all night in your own bed. 10 WHOLE HOURS.
Now that we know you can do it, if you don’t repeat it again tonight we’re gonna duct tape you to the bed.
Happy Birthday Chicken Little
Love,
Mom
Heather P. said,
November 4, 2009 at 1:12 am:
Happy Birthday Miss Ella!
Laura said,
November 4, 2009 at 9:15 am:
HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ELLA!!!!
So glad you got some sleep, I am so happy for you! (I hope I don’t have to wait 3 years for Brady to sleep through the night!!!)
Farmchick said,
November 4, 2009 at 4:13 pm:
After a full ten hours she may not sleep a full night again for a couple more years!
Stina said,
November 4, 2009 at 5:26 pm:
happy birthday to your sweet girl! i think the duct tape is a great idea. take care.
justanotherdayinparadise said,
November 5, 2009 at 9:41 am:
happy bday! my 3 yo has become my never fail alarm clock. she “goes off” every morning @ 6 am–except noone has been able to reset her following the time change. I’ve been woken up at 5 am every morning this week!
Deep Kick Girl said,
November 6, 2009 at 6:13 am:
Happy Birthday to your gorgeous girl. And good on you for surviving with your dignity and sanity (???) intact.
pissy said,
November 8, 2009 at 8:37 pm:
Awwww….Happy Birthday to your baby!
and bless your heart with the no-sleep business. I couldn’t have dealt with that. Both my girls slept through the night from the age of 6 weeks. Praise Jesus! LOL
Futureblackmail said,
November 11, 2009 at 8:14 am:
Happy Birthday!!
At 6 my daughter finally understood that she didn’t need to wake me up on Saturday morning to ask me if she could watch TV. Yes. YES! Please watch TV!!!
ali said,
November 11, 2009 at 10:51 pm:
Happy Birthday sweet gorgeous girl!!! And for the record… parenting and duct tape go hand in hand.
Kitty Justice said,
November 12, 2009 at 6:23 pm:
I took a round a bout trip over. First Monica at Changes in the wind had a post about “Where is George?” and she referred her readers to It’s a small town life and then your name made this kat very curious. I spent yesterday reading several of your post and you are so VERY FUNNY.
Angela said,
November 12, 2009 at 8:01 pm:
Hi! Not quite sure how I stumbled across your site, but I am SO glad I did! What a sweet tribute to your daughter! Times go so fast….my baby is almost 10! I see that you are from KY. I am a TN girl, but I do live right on the KY line. Ever been to Somerset? I added you to my subscribed to your feed and added you to my twitter {hope thats alright}. Hope your having a wonderful week! xo