Dog-Gone Insomnia

I was sleeping so well. I had vaguely noticed when Doug came to bed. (Doug comes to bed at a "normal" time. I, being the sleep deprived mommy, go to bed at the same time as my 3-year-old nephew. Sometimes earlier.) Shortly thereafter, after I have settled back into slumber, my dog, the 100 pound weakling, puts his front paws on the bed. Which wakes me up.

Obviously something is wrong. So I immediately check on Brenna. She's fine.

I lay down. He does it again. Doug hears a beeping downstairs. Ah, my cell phone's low battery warning. It's all so clear now.

Last summer we got Toby an Instant Fence. It is like Invisible Fence, but works on a radio frequency instead of a buried wire. The collar beeps when he gets close the perimeter, shocks if he crosses it. Works amazingly well, too.

Except that now Toby is scared of anything that beeps. Even if the collar is off. Which it is at night. Which is when things seem to beep and scare him.

So I get out of bed, get the phone & plug it in to cease the beeping. I go back to bed. Toby is not comforted and continues to put his paws on the bed. I shut him out of the room. I can't go back to sleep.

Then my mind wanders to what we will do when Brenna starts to crawl. We will need to move Toby's food. The pieces are so large that she could choke on them. Or, Toby might not appreciate her messing with his dish. OK, now I am really awake. Damn.

And you know that the minute I am ready to head back to bed Miss Brenna will wake up.

**SIGH**