So Tired

Our son Henry has always been an early to bed, early to rise kind of kid. But lately I've been growing more and more worried about the early to rise part. He is dreaming away by 7:30 every night, he never complains about going to bed, and he falls asleep within minutes of head hitting pillow, so I'm pretty sure his bedtime is right on. But a mere 9 hours later, at 4:30 in the AM, he is at my side asking if it's time to get up yet. Um, no. 

I go to work at an obscenely early hour so that I can leave work in time to pick Henry up from school. Therefore, Henry thinks he should be up every morning when I'm up, so he doesn't miss saying good-bye. And once he's up, there's no getting him back into bed. I love that I get to be at school every afternoon: I feel like part of the stay-at-home-parents club, even though I'm not a full member. I love that Henry and I chat in the car on the drive home and that I'm there for him to talk to if he's had a "bumpy day," as we call them. But this week especially I've noticed that my usually sunny boy has seemed not so sunny. Down. Serious. Unenthusiastic.  When I ask him what's up, he says "I'm just so tired..." He rests his head on his hand during dinner, even when chocolate-chip pancakes are on the menu, a Henry favorite. Last night he chose a recipe from his cookbook and we made it together, an apple-y dessert. He had playtime, movie time, snuggle time, goofy time, book time, all our usual after school and bedtime activities. But his usual spark wasn't there. He wept while we tried to do his homework, which he usually enjoys.

I think I asked him 15 times if there was anything he wanted to talk with me about. Had something happened at school? Did someone make him sad or upset? Had he had a time-out in gym? Nope, just tired, he says. We've had (and continue to have) the talk about secrets and inappropriate garbage and the like, but he is usually very forthcoming when something has gone wrong at school. So, I chalk it up to exhaustion. 

Today I'll be calling our pediatrician to see what we can do to...what, reset Henry's internal clock? We've tried keeping him up a bit later (and a lot later). But what we end up with is an overtired boy the next day. He gets fresh air, we dance in the living room, he has gym, we try to make healthy meals. I'm hoping we can find a way to convince him to stay in bed, even though I'm getting up to go to work. I hate leaving him every day, but I hate it more when my son is unhappy every afternoon because he's so sleepy. Yawn.