I AM the Walking Death!

Oh wow, my daughter, the wee one, the one who has been sick, woke at 3 again last night – and didn’t go back to sleep until 5.

The worse part? I stayed up until 11 because my mind wouldn’t stop going. I was thinking of all types of things, but mainly the new move.

And the one issue I kept considering was this: When we move, our neighborhood could have some alligators since we are right on the marsh. I run in the morning, pre-dawn. But if we live near alligators, I don’t want to run up on one in the early morning hours.

Now, I lived in Florida, kayaked the rivers, and saw hundreds of alligators in the process, some so close they brushed the kayak as I went past. I’ve heard them croak, I’ve watched them watch me as they rested in the mud. I’m not afraid of them, but I do have a very healthy respect for them and certainly wouldn’t want to scare one in the middle of the morning – one who might turn around and eat me. (All joking aside, a while ago a woman was attacked and killed by a gator as she ran in the Everglades-so it can happen).

So then I had to consider the options of how else I can run once we move. Do I have to have all runs with the jogging stroller, or do I need to run at night? Can I get up early enough to go but after the sun rises, so the chances that I stumble upon one would be lower. I mean, if there is light in the sky I can see it in the distance, turn and go the other way.

Then, at 11:15, my mind went silent.

At 3 AM it woke again to, “Mommy, help me!”

My daughter has taken to saying this since she was sick. When she was sick it was because she didn’t feel well. Now it is because she wants me to hold her. I couldn’t find anything wrong with her last night, maybe just a bit of gas and I know that could have hurt, but I held her, put her back, patted her back, and then she would wake again, until 5. Finally, exhausted, she slept and I crawled back into bed.

I woke at 7:30 to, “Mommy, help me!”

So, we’re running in the jogging stroller again today. No 7 or 8 miles like I had hoped; I just don’t have it in me, for one, and for another, I don’t think I could do that distance with her in the stroller. She wouldn’t stand for it and neither would my arms.

It’s funny, but before kids if I missed a run I was miserable. Now I am miserable but I adjust. You have to; it’s the nature of the kid beast. You learn that you may not be able to do exactly what you want when you want to do it, but that eventually you will find a way to fit it in.

So, no longer run this week. I may do 5 on Wednesday, if I sleep. Maybe that’s best. I’ll be fresh for Saturday’s 11. My legs will feel like a challenge. And hopefully the baby will sleep.

Oh, and there are no alligators around here, so I won’t be kept up at night worrying about that.