Humbling Moments

As a mom, you lose sleep.  As a mom of three, you lose LOTS of sleep.  It happens. It’s part of the territory. I’m ok with that.  I’ve come to realize that it wont be forever and like most trying things in parenthood, its only temporary.  I used to pride myself on how good I could handle little sleep. After each baby was born, I would stay up a whole 24-36 just staring out our new little one, analyzing their faces, memorizing their tiny features and trying to figure out which member of the family they looked like.  I guess I was always too excited to sleep.  And the first weeks few weeks of their lives, the nighttime feedings and diaper changes never seemed to phase me.  Guys, I was a PRO at handling lack of sleep.  Luke has always been humble enough to admit that without sleep, he gets grumpy.  No, not me.  I’d get up the next morning after an especially rough night with the babies and I was still able to function.  And I’d still be cheery at that.

Well folks, not anymore.  The lack of sleep is REAL on this trip.  Getting kids used to different time zones, early morning flights and red-eye flights have taken their toll on me in a big way.  Take this morning for example; our flight left from Dublin at 6:40 am.  We were staying about an hour away in Castledermot and we also had to return our rental car plus catch a shuttle to the airport.  We had to leave the house by 2:45 am so that we would catch our flight in time.  I had a choice to make.  Either I try to finish packing early enough and get a little bit of sleep, or I just pull an all nighter.  I chose to not sleep.  “I can handle this,” I thought to myself.  No biggie.  Big mistake.  By the time we arrived in Dublin, I had a monster headache.  On our flight to Rome, my eyes were so heavy I could barely keep them open.  Once we arrived at our airbnb, I was a hot mess.  Everything was irritating me.  The sound of my family’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard and I was …dare I say it…GRUMPY.  My body craved sleep and all I wanted to do was give in.  Luke being the amazing guy that he is, took the kids for a walk along the beach (we are staying near the sea)  and I crashed with Isla.  HARD.

And here I find my humbling moment.  Pride is short lived in parenthood.  Just when you think you have something to brag about, you realize you don’t.  It’s a learning process.  And thank goodness Luke has my back as I struggle to figure it all out:)

-Vanessa