Early to Bed

We've been having some behavior issues with C. He hasn't been listening, he has been crying hysterically at the smallest disappointment, and apparently he has been acting out at school as well. His teachers pulled me aside yesterday to ask what was going on, and I had to shrug. "I honestly don't know," I told them. They reassured me that they would keep working with him, and suggested that we try to determine the root of the issue at home as he was "Just not the C we love."

C and I had the requisite talk, to no avail. "I don't know why I'm not listening mommy. I'm not angry or sad or anything. I just can't help it." was C's answer to the "Can you tell me why this is going on?" question. So I spent the rest of the day stewing. Was it because of the move? It shouldn't have taken this long to settle in, we only moved around the corner. Was is because M was traveling so much? But in reality, he has been home much more this fall than usual. Should we get C evaluated for, well, something? M looked at me like I had two heads. "Evaluated for what?" I don't know, something....

Then I did some quick math in my head. Well, C used to go to bed at 7, but for the last few weeks he has been fighting bedtime and in reality hasn't been falling asleep much before 8:30 or so. And since the clocks changed, he has been getting up at 6:30 instead of 7:30. So if my math is correct, we have been down two and a half hours of sleep a night. I know how I feel when I run a sleep deficit, I ca only imagine what one like that would do to a four (and a half!) year old.

So I put C into bed at 6:15pm. Don't laugh, I did. And he went right to bed. As I write this, it is 6:35am, and except for a brief wakeup at around 10:30, he has slept straight through and shows no sign of getting up. Apparently, we had a very tired little boy on our hands. I so hope this is our solution. Because I miss the agreeable child who used to live here.