Toddler Rosary: The Noisy Mysteries

My young son is truly a gift from God. He is so special to us, and we love every moment with him. Well...we love *just about* every moment with him. Since the day he came home, he has never been a sleeper at night. At a year and a half now, he's decided that the 12am-3am period is the perfect opportunity to practice the Mommy War Call from the edge of his crib. No amount of picking him up, rocking him, snuggling him, etc. helps - because, in his mind, it's play time.

Last night was an especially tough one, because it came after the previous night's extra tough one. We've never been one for crying it out (CIO), but last night - for the first time - after the first hour of unsuccessfully trying to quiet the Baby Banshee, I put back him in his crib, told him (in no uncertain terms) to GO TO SLEEP, and walked out of the room.

I climbed back into bed, and felt shaky and sick to my stomach. It was so so hard to know he was crying in there for me, yet knew that we NEEDED to do this - he has to slowly learn that night time is not play time. I was going to go in every 10min to check on him, and so turned to prayer to help calm my nerves and pass the ten minutes until I could go back in. An entire decade is about ten minutes, sopraying the rosary worked perfectly. As I lay there, quietly praying, I realized that - for moms - there may in fact be SIX mysteries: enter the Noisy Mysteries.

The Five Noisy Mysteries

I. The Raging Scream: Disbelief that Mommy Just Walked out of my Room
~ Hail Mary...Glory Be...Our Father...
~ 10-min check-in? Still raging.

II. The Temper Fit: Throwing Everything Out of my Crib
~ Hail Mary...Glory Be..Our Father...
~ 10-min check-in? Give him back his lovey and enjoy silence...for about 2min.

III. The Fake-Out Silence: Letting Mommy Think I'm Asleep, but Just for a Moment
~ Hail Mary...Glory Be..Our Father...
~ 10-min check-in? Raging turns to whimpers and sniffs.

IV. The Whimper: Still Angry Mommy Left Me, but Running out of Energy
~ Hail Mary...Glory Be..Our Father...
~ 10-min check-in? Tiny sounds are barely heard. Eyes are closed, and he's laying down.

V. The Exhaustion: Finally Asleep
~ Hail Mary...Glory Be..Our Father...
~ 10-min check-in? My sweet little angel is finally asleep.