There are times when I don’t know my up from my right. I mean, I don’t know my left from my down. Or something along those lines. It’s what sleep deprivation will do to you.

To be fair, the type of sleep deprivation I’m experiencing lately isn’t the kind where you find yourself seeing the hours of 2 a.m, 3 a.m., and 4 a.m., plus all the minutes in between. No, my recent bought of sleep deprivation comes in the form of teasing sleep. I lie down, I fall asleep, and then suddenly I’m awake to tend to a crying child. All of this is within 15 minutes. The time it takes to tend to the child is probably less than ten minutes. The child is back asleep and in his crib. So I lie down, I fall asleep, and then suddenly I’m awake again. This time 30 minutes has passed…

Rinse, repeat. Sometimes an hour passes, sometimes two… on a good night there is a chunk of five hours that passes, but it is bookended with refusal to go to sleep and stay asleep (this is usually a two hour struggle) and then fighting to stay asleep but yet wanting to start the day (usually starts around 4:30 a.m.).

So, in an effort to combat the exhaustion, I just keep moving, trying to focus on something other than sitting down. Because, if I sit down, I will fall asleep (I’m writing this while asleep. I promise. It’s an awesome trick I learned). This week we have VBS, so it helps with the keep moving philosophy. At home I sit and play with Fuller, trying to keep out of my chair and away from the computer (not always successful)… all in an effort to stay awake.

I’m exploring remedies to the sleep issues, but for now, I’m just moving and moving, trying to stay awake.