Serenity Prayer

Getting the boys to sleep through the night has been a challenge. When one wakes up, normally the other does too, and if by chance one sleeps through the night (which rarely happens), the odds are that the other one was up at least once or twice. I try not to complain, but nine months of only having broken sleep can be exhausting. Fortunately the wake ups are short, they don't get up to play, they get up to eat, have a cuddle and then go back to sleep.

We have done various forms of sleep training, but nothing has really stuck. We have success for a few days, and then end up right where we began. Letting them "Cry It Out" is painful, and when the results are only temporary, it makes it hard to continue with it.

The other night around 3 a.m. after having fed the boys, the first few lines of the Serenity Prayer came to my mind.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

My parents had this prayer on the wall at our house growing up. As I went through the line in my head, I thought to myself, this should be an anthem for parents, regardless of their childs age.

So...I have accepted that a full nights sleep is not in my future. I will continue sleep training efforts when appropriate and do what it takes to make sure my kids are well rested and happy when they wake in the morning. In 15 or 16 years when the boys are out with friends until the wee hours of the morning, I will be longing for the days when I sat holding them in my arms at 2:30 in the morning.