Year 4, Day 162

For the…third?…time this week, Miles was wide awake in the middle of the night, calling for us. He was in a pretty good mood, so I, being barely conscious enough to hold myself upright, let him come to bed with us. I had hoped he’d just snuggle up with us and go back to sleep.

I was wrong.

What followed was several minutes of crawling around, climbing on Jaclyn, kicking me (however unintentional), and refusing to just relax. Before long, he was back in his own room…which did not go over well. As soon as he realized Jaclyn had shut him in, he began crying, screaming, and banging on his door. In response, Jaclyn turned off the monitor. We could still hear him, but at least this way he wasn’t blasting in our ears.

I think we both hoped, if not truly expected, Miles to eventually calm down and go back to sleep. But the screaming never stopped for the remainder of the night. I have no idea how much time separated the beginning of Miles’s quarantine from the time we actually had to get up and start the day, but Miles’s howling was constant for the duration.

When it was finally time to wake up from whatever sleep-adjacent activity Jaclyn and I had spent hours trying to cling to, she finally walked over to Miles’s room and opened the door. “What are you screaming about, Miles?” she asked calmly.

He was pissed. “I don’t want the sun to come out!!!” he cried, his words demonstrating an understanding that he had just blown right through the time allotted for sleeping.

Oh well, kiddo. Maybe next time you’ll make better choices!*

_{* PLEASE MAKE BETTER CHOICES.}