this is my dance space!

Here's the dealio - when I am sleeping, I like space. I think a good wing span is reasonable and when my eyes are closed (faking counts here) I AM SLEEPING!!! Children, husbands, dogs and guinea pigs take notice: I am never, ever, ever, ever, never happy or even slightly agreeable if I am roused before I am good and ready. I am considerably less pissy with demanding kids and grownups alike if I wake up on my own terms. Remember my favorite movie Dirty Dancing? Johnnie told Baby, "This is my dance space. This is your dance space."

Not sure how this all came to fruition, but for the past 10 years that I have been either pregnant or nursing a wee one, I have not gotten a solid night's sleep even once. I know there are some strong people out there (Christina dear) that can function on lack of sleep, but I am not this person. I need a good REM cycle or 3 per night or I become Darth Sarah. She is not pretty and she is not nice and she breathes funny. My first 2 offspring are great sleepers, but the 3rd, she is difficult to go down, hasn't napped in 2 years and wakes at the buttcrack of dawn. I am startled awake by a soft, squishy little paw shoving me over and stealing my blankets and pillow. She tosses and turns and snores like a hibernating bear. I get sandwiched between her and the husband and then the dog lays across my legs. As if this isn't enough, the nearly 7 year old bag of bones stumbles in and sleeps at the bottom of the bed. This is a queen bed. This is not big enough for my commune family.

The repercussions of my utter sleep deprivation varies in severity day to day - at best, I am cranky. At worst, I have conversations at a red light near Walmart with a stranger that I think is the kids' bus driver (she was not, and although she was quite friendly, she was anxious to peel away as soon as the light changed). I require more caffeine and I crave junk food and I have a wicked hard time forming complete sentences (bad for writing, or is it...). I am hopeful (or maybe delusional) that everyone will snooze soundly tonight after a long day at the beach. Or maybe I should slip them a Mickey in their warm milk?