When my son was born, I convinced myself that I was owed a great sleeper. From birth, his older sister seemed to declare an extreme prejudice against the practice of maintaining a state of unconsciousness for any extended period of time (in short, she sucked at sleeping). I could only wrap my head around having a second child by assuming the truth of that old saying "God (or whatever greater power controls doling out those magic babies that sleep through the night from day one) doesn't give you more than you can handle." I definitely couldn't deal with another non-napping, up-all-night crazy kid destroying my R.E.M. cycles. I already had three years of sleep deprivation under my belt. I needed a break . . . and a nap . . . and nine consecutive hours of sleep . . . and to stop dreaming about crying babies. See, I was traumatized.
Luckily for me, my now 21-month-old son is a better sleeper than his sister (who now, at 4 and a half, can still be counted on to make a 3 a.m. appearance more nights than not), but "great"? Not so much. He's taught me that even a kid who sleeps through the night can be exhausting, especially when they think every day should start before the sun comes up. If you have an early riser like me (how I miss the years that I used to sleep until 8 a.m. every. single. day.), here's probably what your morning thought process looks like.