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Shana Tova

It is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Traditionally we eat apples and honey on this holiday to signify our wishes for a happy new year.

Although we have a plentitude of things to be grateful for, there is no doubt this new year began with a rocky start. Specifically, both my children began acting like they were possessed by evil spirits.

No, not the first time this has happened for sure, but I think it's the first time it happened with both of them simultaneously.

Last week was really challenging, with dramatic temper tantrums from both of them. There have been a few this week too.

As I was getting ready to find someone who could perform an exorcism, I started to get some clues as to what might be responsible for their odd behaviour: exhaustion. Hence, my inspiration to write about sleep yesterday.

Well, okay, with Little A, the clue was pretty blatant, more like a sudden slap in the face. When I picked her up from daycare on Tuesday, one of her teachers said to me, "So she actually slept today." "Huh?"

Turns out Little A has been refusing to nap (apparently had NO naps last week) and each of the teachers thought the other had told me...but NO ONE HAD!

"Did you notice anything different about her behaviour?" she asked. "Um, yeah!"

It seems that Coach Luigi, who usually just appears for soccer one day a week, has been acting as a supply teacher (he's also a certified ECE specialist), and my little dumpling is so keyed up over having him in the nap room, that she refuses to close her eyes. I don't blame her, he's a cutie!

So far this week she's only napped once. This certainly explains the dinnertime meltdowns!!

Big A was forced to give up her naps in June due to the summertime daycare schedule (they go on daily fieldtrips and picnics). She seemed to be adjusting pretty well aside from some 4-7pm grumpiness and occasionally falling asleep in the car. Yet when school started a few weeks ago, she began coming home absolutely wiped out. I was surprised seeing as they were active and outdoors all day over the summer, but I guess I was underestimating the physical toll of the cognitive challenges of senior kindergarten (not to mention their gym teacher apparently pushes the kids pretty hard!).

To make matters worse, Big A has started getting up earlier again, like closer to 6am than 7am, which means she starts the day tired and grumpy. I'm mulling over some way of encouraging her to try and go back to sleep when she wakes up before 7am.

I am hoping that when all of this resolves, everyone will go back to normal...or to their more positive states of mind as the case may be. No normalcy in this house for sure!

Monday Little A begins at Big A's daycare which means one pick-up and drop-off location for me. That is definitely going to make this year a sweeter one! Little A has actually been telling us she wants to go there already, which I hope is a sign she will adjust easily to the change. My only concern is that I think she thinks she will get to play with Big A and her friends, which is not likely to happen too often since they will be in different rooms and on different schedules. Ah, it will all work out, right?

Shana Tova, have a sweet new year everyone!

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