Overtiredness: The culprit for a very cranky Christmas!

I was SOOOOOO excited for Christmas this year. I couldn't wait to watch my boys open their presents! I was nostalgic and excited to have some good old low-key Christmas-style family bonding.

Well... we kept the boys up a whole TWO hours past their bedtime last night (Xmas Eve). They were well-behaved and we were at our cousin's house. Boy, do I regret that!!!! The boys woke up numerous times at night (usually in bed at 6 pm, not a sound until 7 am or later). Then, when they got up and we went to open presents, they threw tantrums the whole time. No interest in opening presents, no interest in ANYTHING... no matter how hard we tried to engage them or just have a good time. I'm glad we have it all on film for the day when they have kids... they won't have any room to talk about their kids' behavior! They were atrocious. Once we (DP & I) opened all of the gifts, we proceeded with the rest of the day.

It was all downhill from there. We tried an early nap. Jack took that, not Jake. Then we tried a noon nap. Jake took that, not Jack. They both tantrumed all afternoon-- some of the worst tantrums they have ever had... despite the fact that we were at their grandparents' house (their very favorite place to be!). It wasn't busy (just us and the GP's), and it wasn't noisy. It was low-key, and yet they were freaking out. We finally left and came home for a mid-afternoon nap, which they both took (for 20 minutes). THEN... they cried all evening until they went to bed.

At bedtime (6 pm) , Jacob cried hysterically because he felt he needed water in his Take N Toss cup instead of his Klean Kanteen. Not an option because he would spill it all over. He shrieked like a lunatic, despite DP & I both going in to "rationalize" with him and show him his full Klean Kanteen cup... he finally fell asleep around 6:45. Then, Jack started crying. He has ben crying for over 30 minutes. Again, no reason other than overtiredness. I feel like I have been listening to someone (or multiple someones) crying/screaming for over 12 hours straight!!!!

I am so frustrated that while our early bedtime works great, it so severely limits our ability to socialize as a family. 6:00 is really early... and everyone thinks we are nuts for maintaining it. I don't really care what people think, but it's irritating when people laugh that we are first-time parents and we need to just see how it would go. Every time we keep them up late, this is what happens! And there are two of them (yes, all these other people have singletons only). This was one of the most difficult days I've had with them so far in their little lives... and there is no reason for it other than overtiredness and maybe, just maybe... because they got shots last week (they've been a bit cranky ever since, but nothing like this!). Otherwise, any other possible cause has been ruled out (as far as is humanly possible) Here's hoping they wake tomorrow as post-Christmas angels. :lol:

Hope all of you had happy, healthy, safe, and fun Christmases (and other holidays for those of you who observe them!).


ETA: Sorry to be such a downer... I was hoping to have all kinds of sweet stories and moments to share... but it would take a LOT of sugar to sugar-coat the day we had! hehe *sigh*

 

Awww! Sorry to hear it wasn't what you envisioned! I do hope tomorrow they are post Christmas angels for you and DP! You both deserve it!

I have to say... I scrolled all the way down to the bottom of your post and saw your ticker...It's so hard to believe those two cuties were having tantrums! They are adorable! :wub:

 

I'm sorry!!

We had a year like that at Thanksgiving....it was horrid and I never deviated from 'bedtime' by more than 1/2 hr at holidays since!

It is nice you got it on film though, it will be really funny in a few years!

Today hopefully they will nap and play with the new toys!

 

I'm ss that you had a not so nice Christmas but atleast you did get it on video. My kids have a 7pm bedtime (yes my 6yr olds also during the school week) and my family and especially dh's family doesn't understand why. My kids get very cranky (especially my one daughter) when they don't get enough sleep and no matter what time I put them down at night they all wake up at the same time or earlier in the morning. I also have them all lay down for naps too and we don't deviate from that to much either or there are major meltdowns. My dh's family doesn't understand it because they each only have one small child (my one bil also has a 9yr old but he takes care of himself) and their childs bedtimes are usually 9pm or later and they think we are nuts but they have the time to carry around their child non stop all day long if they are cranky but I can't and won't. My dh and I are always the first people to leave all functions because we don't like to put them to bed to late on special occasions (we extend to 7:30). I hope your boys wake up this morning and enjoy all the new things they got yesterday and are better for you today.

 

I still remember when my 5-month old twins had their first Christmas. I was in the middle bedroom nursing them, trying to get them down while everyone else opened presents. This year we made sure that the twins had a nap (don't normally take one) and it was a delightful evening. Sorry yours didn't turn out as you envisioned it. :hug:

 

We had the SAME issues! Mine have 6pm bedtimes and man oh man....They were sooooooooooooooo cranky on Christmas I nearly lost my mind!!!! I couldn't wait for the day to end right from the beginning! After I got them in bed that night, I took a huge sigh of relief and said "Thank God this hell day is over!!!" to my DH...lol...I knew it would happen. We almost didn't go anywhere Christmas because of the crankiness. I never want to re-live that again, lol.