Over The Top

Today was a circus at our house. So much so that my mom actually asked me if my son could be bipolar. What? I thanked her very much for her kind words of encouragement and then explained (not very sweetly, I might add) to her what bipolar really was. What I did question, momentarily anyway, was whether he had developed a sudden case of ADHD.

Seth was sick on the weekend. He had a fever for two days, had no appetite and was lethargic. He got to sleep very late Saturday because he was restless from his fever and woke up totally miserable, so I kept him home from church Sunday morning. He sprang back very quickly Sunday afternoon and finally ate decently so I decided he was ready for church Sunday night.

The problem was that he again didn't get to bed very early, because it was as I was driving home that I thought I saw that funnel cloud and, not wanting to land in Oz, turned tail and ran. As a result I didn't get him home and in bed until 11:30. That is very late for a boy just recovering from being sick and not getting enough sleep the night before.

I really thought he would sleep late this morning. He did not. He was up by 8:00, bouncing - way more than usual - right from the start. He went into Hannah's room and ended up wrestling with her. By 10:00 he was so over the top - with his sister being not too much better - that I told them we were having a very early nap, like 11:00, gave them a much bigger than normal breakfast to tide them over a missed lunch, and made them lie down.

I really thought he would go to sleep right away, he was so obviously tired. He didn't. He called me within a half hour to say he had to go to the bathroom. He went very little. Ten minutes later he said he had to go again and again went very little. When he said it a third time ten minutes later, I warned him that if he didn't go he was getting a spanking, so he managed to squeeze one last drop out. Poor child's bladder must have been bursting. That took up a whole hour.

In hour two he sang. He kicked his walls (not in a fit of temper, just out of boredom). He did everything he could to keep himself awake. His sister was, again, not much better. She tried to negotiate getting up. I told her the deal would be that if she didn't want to sleep then that she was going to bed very, very early. She agreed - for about ten minutes. In the meantime, I decided to lie down with Seth. I had been wanting to catch a few winks myself because my night was very late, but I knew it was not possible with my toad-face still awake, calling me every 15 minutes.

I lay down beside my son. This is when I have a hard time staying mad, because he always attacks me with kisses and hugs. As he was smooching my face and stroking my cheek, he said, "have sweet dreams" over and over. A chuckle snuck out, much to his delight, because he promptly began his comedy routine.

He just could not lie still. He began kicking his walls again, so I told him to stop. He told me that, "I don't think that God should have made walls!" to which a chuckle again escaped. This prompted a full-fledged gymnastics routine on his bed - after all, if mommy was laughing it must be safe to jump. And jump. And jump.

Now I know that I shouldn't let him jump on his bed, and most of the time I don't let him. But the kid had so much nervous energy I didn't know what else to let him do and by this time I had basically given up on our sleep. Besides, what kid does not jump on beds whenever it can be snuck in, right? It was 2:00 - three full hours later.

We got up and got ready to go to the store (a chore I was avoiding in the morning and couldn't any longer). Before we got out the door he started singing: "One, two, buckle my shoe.....". I cut in with "three, four.." and he said, "close the door." I said, "five, six..." and he said, "pick up sticks." I said, "seven, eight..." and he said,

"The big fat hen!"

I laughed hard - I couldn't help it. He belly-laughed with me, although he had no idea what was so funny.

The circus ended at 8:00 tonight. He was more than ready to go to bed, and I was more than ready for him to go. I have several blessed hours alone before heading there myself.

I'm praying the circus has left town tomorrow.