GO...TO...BED!!!!!!!

I gotta vent.  It's after 9 p.m.  I've been trying to get these two precious little children of mine to go to sleep since 8 p.m. and I'm about worn out.  Neither one of them has any interest in calling it a night, but I, on the other hand, have a gazillion things that need to be done.  The two things I've been putting off all week that I need to do is fold laundry and wash dishes, neither of which looks like they're going to get done tonight.

This is the third night in a row that Gabe's done this to me (Zeke spent the last 2 nights at my parents' house), and because he's only 2 and doesn't necessarily know any better (although sometimes I think the "pee potty" excuse is just that--an excuse), it's bloody frustrating having to listen to these two go on and on.

"Night, night!  Bed time!  No more talking, whispering, or making noises of any kind," I say.

Ten seconds later, I can hear whispering as Zeke's talking to himself, telling some kind of story or whatnot.

"Really?  Do you REALLY think I can't hear that?  I'm sitting in this rocker right next to your bed, and you REALLY think I can't the words coming out of your mouth??"

I feel insulted.

Get this...I'm sitting in the living room typing this, and I can hear Gabe from the bedroom telling Zeke, "No talking!"  And what does Zeke do?  He imitates Gabe, which only exacerbates the situation and makes Gabe mad.  Yes, this is happening at this very moment while I type all this.

Hold on...it's gone quiet in there.  I'm not sure if they've finally worn their little selves out or what.  Nope, now Zeke's calling and telling me, "Momma, I really don't think I can go to sleep!"  And Gabe's yelling, "Momma, Zekie bump-a on-a head!"  (That means, "Zeke bumped me on the head" in Gabe-speak.)  "I did not!" yells Zeke.

Ok, I freakin' give up.  No wonder I don't feel like doing housework at night!

Ah wait...quiet again.  You know, I really think this time they might be down for the count.  It's been about a whole minute, and not a peep.  *happy dance*  And it's only 9:30 p.m. now.  I'm really tempted just to say screw it all and go to bed myself.  If I do that right now, I'd actually get 7 full hours of sleep.  BLISS!!

I was trying to explain to Zeke how they're going to have a hard time getting up in the morning, if they don't go to bed on time.  Bless him, but he has no earthly idea why 8-1/2 hours of sleep just isn't enough for youngsters like them, although for you and I, that would be extremely refreshing.  Right now, I have to make do on the 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours I get on a nightly basis.  Some of that's my own fault...I need my "winding down" time in the evenings before I turn in for the night, and that can be anything from vegging in front of the TV to something I've recorded on my wonderful DVR, to vegging at my laptop with one or more mind-numbing games that I play on Facebook.  Or both!

Well, it's been a full 5 minutes now that things have been quiet, so I'm going to give it a couple more minutes and go in there to check on them.  Now that Gabe's in a toddler bed as opposed to a crib, it's that much harder getting him to stay put, when all he wants to do is head over to Zeke's bed because he can bounce higher while he's jumping.  Go figure.

I think I'm done venting now.  'Night, all!