How long until bedtime?

Not for the kids. For me.

It has really been a pleasant weekend. We've been full or almost full every night, but the guests have been cheerful, mostly self-sufficient, and polite. I haven't had to kick anyone out of the hot tub at midnight. No one has had friends calling them in the middle of the night. No one has smoked in a non-smoking room.

We did have a shoving match in the parking lot Friday morning, but one of the guys involved was checking out that morning anyway, so that put an end to it. And there was a clogged drain on Saturday that required a visit from the plumber, but the guests were low-key about it. Other than that we just had requests for more ice (easy to accommodate) and laundry service (no, sorry).

But Michael and I are both wrung out and ready for bed. Why, you ask? Well, he's about three feet tall with curly, blond hair and big, blue eyes. And he woke up four times last night. And two times the night before. Have I ever mentioned how much cuter he is when the sun is up?

For reasons I do not understand, LW needs to cry it out about once a fortnight. If you don't let him cry it out, but instead sit with him until he falls back asleep (even if you don't get him a bottle or talk to him), he wakes up more and more often every night until you do let him cry it out. However, I worry too much about the guests in room 1 being able to hear him scream to let him cry it out when that room is occupied. So, we've been getting up with him this weekend.

Michael has guests written into room 1 for the next three nights, but I'm hoping to put them in room 8 instead. I really need to sleep.*

In the meantime, my lofty goal for the day is to not scream at Michael or the kids.

* iPods with noise-cancelling headphones are a great asset to parents who are letting their kids cry it out. The headphones don't completely block out the crying, but they definitely take the edge off.