Like Mick...I just can't get no satisfaction.

One of the first things you hear after 'congratulations' from people upon the arrival of  a new edition  to the family are the jabs about the oncoming sleep deprivation for mom and dad.. If you have kids...you know where I'm coming from on this too. With the last installment to the Tony C clan, I knew exactly what Mrs. Tony C and I were facing, and honestly, I dreaded dealing with a sleep deprived mom worse than a nocturnal baby.*

While my wife can generally be described in terms equivalent to Joshua Deets of Lonesome Dove fame (CHERFUL IN ALL WEATHERS, NEVER SHERKED A TASK. SPLENDID BEHAVIOUR), she takes on a completely different persona with the absence of seven or so uninterrupted hours of snoozing.

The Crazy Tomato was a bit challenging as a baby with a number of all night squalls. As she got to the toddler stage, the major strategy for long rest periods was to keep an ample supply of me's (her name for pacifiers) in her crib within reach. She would often pull out one and put in another...repeating the process through the entire inventory as if she were at a wine-tasting seminar. But hey, she wasn't crying...so mission accomplished in my book.

Our latest addition has been, to this point, dubiously surprising. As she quickly approaches the 6-month mark, she most always goes the distance through the night (thank you Jesus!). In fear of some karmic reprisal...I going to leave it at that for now.

So, all three girls have their own room in our home that is uniquely their own space. The teenager couldn't move downstairs fast enough, and after a few 'security precautions' on all the ground level windows, we gleefully obliged her request. She's happy if we just toss food down the steps occasionally and pretty much stay out of the way of her hopelessly dramatic life as a high school freshman. (eye roll)

The Crazy Tomato has her own room complete with labelling wall adornment...





As does the new addition I affectionately refer to as The Bulldog (drool related)...



All in all... a situation difficult to really complain about given the fact all the necessary ingredients are in place for complete and utter, Armageddon-style chaos.  However, and I really do hate to complain...please believe me... would it be too much to ask, considering the great lengths we've gone to make sure everyone has their own personalized space in our home...would it really be too much to ask that I actually get to sleep in my own bedroom...in the same bed as my spouse?

That is, of course, asides from lying longways across the bottom of the bed? Hey...just because I can doesn't mean I really want to....just saying.


* Disclaimer: Please understand and I fully acknowledge that Mrs. Tony C is the primary support, both day and night,  for all youngsters in our home. By primary, I mean 98 percent of the time or better.