The Jet Lag Struggle

I tend to pride myself on how quickly I can conquer jet lag. I think it's supposed to take about a week to get over. It usually takes me a couple days. Going to UT last month was no different. I think I felt the affects one morning and Jade was a champ and didn't seem to be too affected by it at all. Returning to Taiwan was a very, VERY different story though. Allow me to illustrate (i.e. complain).

The first night when my two year old woke up at 2 a.m. and had no desire whatsoever to go back to sleep, I figured it was to be expected. I let her play, put in a movie, and went back to bed. That worked until about 4 a.m. when she was sick of playing alone and was insistent on getting mommy up (dressed in the attire to the left). By then there was no alternative but to start the day. We headed out to get groceries. Come to find out the morning market is not open at 5 a.m. Wellcome and Family Mart are though. And our favorite breakfast place is; they're just not in full swing yet. I still managed to order dang bing, mantau jia dan, and dou jang. I figured that was pretty good for my first morning back and no refresher course from Cody.

I thought the first night was bad. Not so much. The second night Jade went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and got up at 12:30 a.m. I let her play for about an hour, then tried just about everything I could think of to get her to go back to sleep. Including, but not limited to, Benadryl. She can climb out of her crib now, so that makes things even more tricky. Nothing worked. Around 4 a.m. Cody got up with her and let me go back to bed. What a wonderful husband I have!



Later, Jade decided it would be fun to strap herself into the stroller, so I gave her some books to look at while she was in there. I hopped in the shower and when I got out all was quiet. She ended up falling asleep in there around 9:45 a.m.! I let her nap for a few hours and then kept her up until 7:30 p.m. when she literally couldn't keep herself up anymore. I told her to go get her p.j.s, I helped her put them on, she climbed into her bed with her blanket, then fell asleep.

She woke up at 3 a.m., but apparently had learned and didn't even bother coming to get me. She just laid herself down on the couch, so I came out and put a movie on. Again she stayed up for the day. I was too tired to struggle with her.

That night she again got ready for bed, gave us hugs and kisses, turned out the lights, and climbed in bed by herself. She woke up at 2:30 a.m. and immediately strapped herself in her highchair. "I hungry, Mom. I hungry!" After some cereal I tried to get her to go back to bed. I even tried drugging her again. Again, nothing worked. I let her be. She didn't bother me. I didn't bother her. I got up a little after 6. What did she do with all that time on her own? No one can really know for sure.... unless there's evidence, of course.

After this I was pretty fed up with the situation. I called in for some expert help. My dear friend, Erin--who has four times as much experience in this area than I do--gave me some tips and advice. Last night went beautifully. Jade put herself down for bed again just before 8 p.m. and didn't wake until 5 a.m. I can live with that--for now at least. We are well finally on our way to full recovery!!!