SortaCrunchy

Sleep Deprivation is No Joke

photo courtesy of Critical Moss

It doesn't happen often, but every now and again my brain fights hard against my body and refuses to go to sleep on time. The 5 o'clock wake-up call is cruel when you were still tossing and turning at 1:30 AM. That was me yesterday, stumbling through the day on just a few hours of sleep, walking through molasses to get through the day.

The upside of the no-more-naps season of parenting is that everyone sleeps at night pretty wonderfully now. Sure, sometimes one of the girls will appear at my bedside, shaken from sleep by a bad dream and needing a gentle tucking-in redux, but mostly we enjoy uninterrupted snoozing hours.

Yesterday's walk through a not enough sleep haze brought a tangible reminder of those groggy new baby days.

A few weeks ago on Twitter, someone I follow was recounting the story of visiting friends who had just brought home a newborn. This mama told of how upset she was to try to sit and visit with her friends as they allowed their five day old infant to cry it out to go to sleep.

How to Defend (or Not!) Your Choice to Reject Ezzo's Teachings

  Photo by bardgabbard

July 12-17 is Ezzo Week, hosted annually by Tulip Girl.

Thank you so much for your participation in this year's Ezzo Week conversations.  Last week also happened to be Vacation Bible School week at our church, so much of my time has gone into teaching and recovering from that week.  I haven't been able to respond to comments as adequately as I would like to, but I have read and been inspired by all of the feedback you have shared.

In fact, it is your feedback that offers direction for this post.

How to Give Voice to Your Ezzo Concerns - Face-to-Face

 
photo by Alex Barth

July 12-17 is Ezzo Week, hosted annually by Tulip Girl.

Earlier this week, we discussed ways to discuss concerns about the materials published by Gary Ezzo and Growing Families International in online conversations.  Sometimes, however, situations arise in real-time, face-to-face with others where we might want to share some thoughts on these materials.

Discussing Babywise or the Preparation for Parenting series can result in conversations that range from slightly awkward to downright volatile.  Dialoguing about parenting choices tends to lend itself to a posture of defensiveness for nearly all of us.  How can we have peaceful, grace-filled conversations with others about a topic that is often a catalyst for divisiveness?