After Midnight

Forget midnight. Try after 8:00PM it starts to get tough to keep my eyes open -- one of those downsides to getting up at the crack of dawn. Last night I was fighting the good fight with my kid about going to bed at his usual 9:00 and he is so keen on pushing the limit lately. I was tougher though. I had him tucked into his bed down the hall, reading his new Lego catalogue by 8;58. By 9:05, it was lights out for him and some singing -- a few choruses of "This Land Is Your Land" and a "Down in the Valley" and he was out. I sing him to sleep most nights, old habit since he was little and I see no reason to change it.

With a below zero night swirling around outside, no better place to wait for a phone call I was expecting than under a pile of down comforters in bed, right.? I remember seeing the clock at 9:18 feeling so proud of myself for still being awake, since I got up at 4:30 that morning ... and ... then 9:19 rollled around and then ...

Darn it! One of these days I'll be able to stay up like a real grown-up!