Need. More. Sleep.

Parenting can be cruel at times.

As a parent of young children, I am accustomed to functioning in a state of constant sleep deprivation. (I don't even keep track anymore of how many hours I'm short each night.) Dairy farming only complicates the matter, because cattle, too, have needs that cannot easily be ignored.

That being said, there's a level of sleep deprivation at which people can function somewhat normally and a level at which they simply cannot. We reached that level this week.

Monika cut a new tooth and came down with her customary tooth-cuttting cold. Her miserable state carried on into the nights with trouble falling asleep and frequent wakings.

On Thursday night, Glen stayed up late waiting for Dimple to calve since she had so much trouble the last time.

That set the stage for Friday morning when Dan woke up at 3 a.m. after a nightmare and didn't go back to sleep until he was in his stroller in the barn. Thankfully, Glen handled that two-and-a-half hours from you-know-where. I'm really not sure how he functioned all day Friday.

The situation worsened when my sore throat turned into a full-fledged, cough-until-you-puke cold. Thanks, Monika.

Then, Monika's misery reached it's peak last night – well, actually it was this morning. She was up at 4 a.m. and cried inconsolably until 5:30. If I hadn't been so doggoned tired, I might have lost my mind.

I felt like a zombie most of the day, but I survived. On a wishful note, we are turning in early tonight in hopes of recapturing some of our lost sleep.

Good night!