My Kids Sleeping Patterns- Children/Rooster Hybrids

As an ignorant young lady in my late teens, I completely took for granted the freedom to sleep whenever it seemed convenient for me. Aside from work and school, what else did I have to get up for? Nothing of importance. Now, every morning I get woken up by a 4 year-old throwing her doll onto my bed, using my covers to pull herself up, flopping her head next to mine on my pillow, and then staring at my face until I open my eyes. It is at this point every morning that I hear, "I'm hungry".

I can't think of a better way to start the day, really. I mean, it's sweet and innocent, and we get some one-on-one snuggle time every morning. But here's the catch. This early-morning routine starts between 6:20am and 6:40am 365 days of the year. She could go to bed at seven o'clock the night before, or nine-thirty. It doesn't matter because she is a rooster. Up with the sun. And that is actually her evidence to support her trip down the hallway. "The sun is up". How can I argue with that? The issue is that the sun has been up in Yellowknife for about 3 weeks straight. She tried to start her day at 2:25am early Saturday morning because "The sun is up". ARGH!

I feel like I am with an infant all over again. Every morning, I think to myself "I know I'm tired, how is she not tired?". Why is is that sometimes they sleep for 11 hours, and others nights only 8? And I have been working really hard at tiring them out. With the boot camp classes, treadmill time-outs and no-dessert-until-you-do-20-push-up rules, they should be exhausted, right? :) But seriously, it is the summer. We are outside a lot. Between our house and the sitters, they are four times more active than in the winter months. Perhaps they suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder in the winter. (I am joking, but I shouldn't even comically bring that thought up to my mother or she'll have appointments for a child psychologist lined-up in PEI next week).

So, brothers and sisters in parenthood, I guess this is our fate. Living with the child-rooster hybrid until they are off on their own someday. I am just glad that I am living on the western side of Canada, where "Jersey Shore" is on a 7, and not 10.