November 6, 2001 - Tuesday
In talking about the struggles of managing his two young kids, a cousin of mine once commented that you learn quickly what's really important. I think he was initially going to be somewhat philosophical about it, but what followed was more practical and he talked about what's important for just keeping them and their parents happy. "Sleep, that's probably the most important thing," he said. "And then there's," he paused, "well, there's not much that's as important as sleep."

I've taken that comment to heart with Harry and over his life we've been really quite consistent about staying on his sleep schedule. I've known it won't kill him if he misses a nap, but I do know that it can make for a long day. I've even wondered whether Harry's good sleep habits are part of what makes him such a good kid. Maybe other, less well behaved kids are really a lot like Harry, but just without the sleep. Today, Harry finally took a solid two hour nap today at daycare and it made for a much easier evening than we've had over the last couple of days.

And, of course, sleep is good for parents, too, and last night Jeremy and his parents slept for almost four straight hours. Actually, I should reword that because, unlike with Harry when I would wake up as often or more than his mother, with Jeremy I have been remarkably able to sleep through much of his nighttime vocalizing, including his calls for food or a change. So, it's more his mother who benefit from the longer night's sleeping.


Comments, opinions?