Sleestack Sleepsack By The Seashore

[dr_pretentious]

We're adapting pretty well to parenthood, though the sleep deprivation makes us mishear one another much more often than before. Sometimes we get into little bickers over confusing bits of phrasing before we realize we're already in violent agreement. Other times, the misunderstanding is so obvious it's hard to argue.

DAN:
I'm going upstairs to put the baby in the sleepsack now.

ME:
What? You're going to feed the baby to the Sleestack?

Comments

[kjlj.livejournal.com]

it's good to hear your sleep-deprived little voice! You're coming in loud and clear over this way...

we think of you all every day.

[radiotelescope.livejournal.com]

I think this signally fails to address the question of *why* you have a Sleestack upstairs.

(They're so much more comfortable in dark basements.)

[jeneralist.livejournal.com]

Phil and I have a phrase: "arguing in French." It describes the long exchange that precedes the realization that you are in violent agreement.

A few years ago, Phil was on a job in Quebec. He had a question about some aspect of the wiring, and asked the engineers from the company for clarification. They immediately devolved into two factions.

FACTION 1: The power leads must be painted red!
FACTION 2: No, you madmen! The negative wires must be black!

This went on for an hour before the factions realized they were making the same point. Phil attributes this behaviour to the educational system in Quebec; he claims that for most Quebec-ers above a certain age, French is a second language that they're using for identity and pride, not because they actually speak it well. Hence -- "arguing in French."

Related story: my sister-in-law, Victoria, was amazingly fluent in Parisian French. She served as a dual-language secretary to the French delegation to the UN. Once upon a time, she decided to vacation in Quebec. When she went to check in at the hotel, she addressed the man behind the counter in English.

He answered her in Quebecois.

She answered that in Parisian French.

And he answered that in English.

[red-haired-girl.livejournal.com]

Dan, Sarah, and Baby,
on a routine expedition...

[thecrimsony.livejournal.com]

Great to hear from you!

Heh, sleepsack sounds like you put the baby in a burlap sack and hang it on the wall. :p

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

*giggle*

Hey, I need a mailing address for you. I have a baby gift that finally turned up from the place where it was hidden and forgotten, and I want to send it before I lose it again. :-)

[wayzgoose.livejournal.com]

Sleep was way overrated when we were young and pulling all-nighters to finish the term paper, thesis, novel, or Christmas wrapping. Now, with someone else controlling whether or not we sleep, it seems such a treasure! Well, the baby will start sleeping through the night, and you will start waking up because the baby didn't and you need to check. And you wouldn't trade one sleepless moment of it to go back to the way it was.

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Ah, sleep deprivation! Don't miss it. But at least you get something really, really cool in return for yours. Treasure the sleeplessness that comes with parenting a baby - my mother says the sleeplessness that comes with parenting a teenager is less pleasant. Still, both my parents seem pretty emphatic that they wouldn't have swapped it all for anything, and I suspect you'll feel the same.

Mo betta pictures of The Babe, please!

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

For parents, sleep is what sex is for singles - who's getting it, how much, with whom, and where. We can talk for hours about it, even know and my kids have been "good sleepers" for a couple of years.

[spiffnolee.livejournal.com]

Lu and I used to have the conversation. . .

"Sex is when two parents, who love each other very much, fall into bed
and sleep for six hours."

"That's a myth- a myth!" "Yeth?"

[leapfaith.livejournal.com]

Yo, miss!
You miss sleep?
You miscommunicate?
Well, I miss seeing you... maybe someday in the next year or two... .

What to feed the monsters...

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

Well, our toddler is almost 2 and I am still sleep deprived (but is isn't actually his fault this time). Today he spent the entire hour before dinner acting up and "practicing being 2" and I would have just about been ready to feed him to a sleestack or any other resident monster. But he was so hyper I am not sure the monster would have caught him anyway. He was much better after eating.

[mystcphoenxcafe.livejournal.com]

Greetings!

"Violent agreement." I like that. Describes perfectly where my husband and I end up from time to time w/o even the excuse of a two-footed child! :-D (Do four-footed ones count? Goodness knows they have been responsible for enough sleep dep! :-P)

-Katrina