#30facesofautism 2019 - Day 8

Day 8 – At seven and a half we still have a monitor in Baby Girl’s room and honestly, I don’t see this changing anytime soon.  In fact, we had to buy a new one recently when the one we got for her as a newborn finally died.  Why, you may be wondering, am I tuning in to my seven year old’s sleeping habits? Well its not the sleep I’m worried about – it’s the waking.  The first thing you need to know is that Baby Girl is a morning person, an early morning person.  Like an awake before 6 AM every morning, bouncing out of bed, gibber jawing about whether you had a good sleep, asking for a big breakfast, HAPPY person.  Let’s be real clear here – NO one else in my house is a morning person. There is no big breakfast at 6 either, you get a pop tart and you like it.  I can barely put together coherent thoughts at 7:30 when I am rolling into school (ok, ok at 8). The madness that is Daylight Savings Time just needs to stop.  It is awful for us and it takes weeks in the spring to get her not to get up at 5! At 5 AM I’m a cave woman.  The best thing about Baby Girl is she just starts the morning routine whether I’m moving or not so here is where the monitor comes in.  When routines and a lack of understanding about safety intersect there can be unexpected consequences – like finding your child up in the middle of the night midway through her morning routine because she thought it was 6 – it was 3!  The older she gets the more independent she becomes but there is still a very childlike innocence that requires us to be overly diligent.  I have to hear and know when she is up and on the go.  The listening in is an absolute must to make sure she is safe. #30facesofautism