Important Lesson Learned

I have learned why I let my child go to sleep at 6pm and wake up at 6am. 

Last night Lily and I had our neighbor and her two kids over for dinner and to play.  Lily was a little tired, but having a blast playing so I just let her stay up.  She stayed up until 9pm!  That is 2-3 hours past her normal bedtime.  I then realized that meant I had 2-3 less hours to myself that evening.  Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter and being a mom and wouldn't do anything to change that.  But I have been spoiled by her going to bed so early and get to have my evenings to either myself or with Sean.  Last night I sat on the couch for a bit to read and watch tv like I normally do.  I then did a few dishes and before I knew it, it was almost 11:30!  I figured since Lily went to bed so late that would mean she would sleep in late so I stayed up another hour reading in bed.  When I finally decided to turn out the light and get some sleep, the thunderstorm started and kept me awake even longer (Lily slept right through it like she always does).  By the time I finally fell asleep it was almost 2:30.

So Lily normally gets up around 6 after 12 hours of sleep, so one would assume that since she went to bed at 9 that she would sleep 12 hours and get up around 9am right? Not the case.  Evidently going to bed 3 hours later only equates to 30 extra minutes in the morning.  Plus she is super cranky today.  She has had several meltdowns over little things (like the cat not wanting to sit on her lap while she watched her morning cartoons).  She has been rubbing her eyes which is normally a sign she is tired so I laid her down for a morning nap about 20 minutes ago.  While she isn't crying in her crib, she definitely isn't sleeping.  She is singing and playing with her stuffed animals.  At least she is content in there. 

I am probably extra cranky today too since I only got about 4 hours of sleep.  Good thing there is coffee.

So from now on I am going to let my child go to bed around 6 or 7 and enjoy my evenings so that we can enjoy the next day a little more too.