Up all night - but not in a good way

I remember the first time I stayed up all night. I was in maybe the sixth grade and Laurel had a slumber party. Most of you probably remember the girl in your class who threw the awesome slumber parties, the ones where everyone ate until they were sick and played games all night and made crank calls. For me that was Laurel. It was simply an honor to be invited. Oh the simple joys of elementary school.

Anyway, I can still remember the hung-over feeling I had the next morning. Since I'm Southern Baptist and a good girl, not to mention the fact that I was 12, a true hangover was not something that I could understand, but I did know that I was kind of out of it.

There was a girl named Raven at this party, and I remember thinking to myself the next morning, "Raven, Raven, Raven, that's a strange-sounding name, Raven." You know what happens to a mind when it hasn't had any sleep.

I experienced much the same feeling when we brought Abby home, except this time I was full of joy to have her home, a feeling that lasted all of two nights. I'm not saying that I don't love Abby, but after six weeks of no sleep, the mind resembles something like mashed potatoes that have been overcooked.

Well, our sweet angel has a cold, a particularly nasty cold, and she was up ALL NIGHT last night. She cried off and on, and Jason and I took shifts as best we could, me one hour, him two, me one hour, him two. I'm a very caring and considerate wife and mother; he needs the quality time with his daughter.

Somewhere about 3 o'clock, Jason and I both realized that we were being played. Yes, Abby felt bad and yes, it was hard for her to breath, but it seems that when she heard our footsteps in the hall, she got strangely quiet as she waited for us to open the door and pick her up.

I think I passed out somewhere around 4 when Jason went into the room to have a very serious conversation with our 17 month old about not playing her parents. He left this morning before I had a chance to ask him how it went.

All that to say, I've been up all night, and it was definitely not in the good, middle-school-slumber-party kind of way.