Tiredness

I shouldn't be this tired at this time of year. Things are winding down, the seniors have left, I am having a fun time focussing on and teaching my juniors (my year 9 English class and me are in the midst of devising a cupcake unit - which involves working cupcakes into anything we learn) and it is not far till the 10th of December when all lessons end for the year, hooray!
But today I am very, very tired, and it is all to do with children. Not the children I teach but the children in my lovely family.
It may have escaped your notice but I have a 13 year old child. There are things you can moan about when you have a 13 year old child and you are a full time working single mother - and sometimes I do. But there are lots of things that you should be grateful for when you have a 13 year old child and last night I was reminded of the wonderful qualities he has now acquired.
Last night my nephews, aged 8 and 5, came to stay the night. Feeding them dessert and letting them play on the computer was fine. I loved having a full dinner table and listening to their conversations; and listening to their squeals of delight as they played games on the computer. Everything was absolutely delightful until bedtime.
Following is a rundown of events that made me tired and grateful for a 13 year old.
7:30 Luka (5 year old) cried because his brother had two pairs of boxers packed and he couldn't find his anywhere (tears about such a mundane thing should have been a foreshadowing to me of the night to come)
8:00 Stories read,teeth brushed and children tucked in bed. Mission done...
8:01 Noah out of bed "can you please stop walking around, I can't sleep"
8:05 Noah out of bed "I want my mummy" Cries. Cuddle and back to bed
8:08 Noah out of bed "the bed is too uncomfortable, I want my bed" Cries. Cuddle and we watch some Guns n Roses on youtube together - we dance, he goes back to bed
8:30 Noah out of bed "I miss my mummy, can you text her?" Take Noah to bed and lie there with him until he falls asleep.
9:00 Crawl out of bed without waking Noah and go upstairs for some me time.
10:00 Decide I better go to be because they will probably wake me early in the morning.
10:01 - 11:30 Luka sound asleep in my room makes the following noises "cough, splutter, slurp, snore, cough, snore, splutter, cough, snore, drool, chew on tongue, cough, snort, cough, cough, COUGH, cough up a lung, snore....etc"
11:30 Noah wakes up "I have a sore throat" Cries "can you call mummy?"
11:35 Luka wakes up "I need to blow my nose" Cries - not sure why.
11:35 - 12:30 I am up and down getting drinks of water, tissues, and looking in vain for liquid panadol.
Around 12:40 I manage to block out the constant stream of noises coming from Luka and drift off into a restless sleep which is disrupted all night by weird dreams and coughing noises.
6am - both boys awake and wanting cereal. Breakfast is followed by them asking me for more food at 15 min intervals, after an hour of this I ask "do you have worms or what?" blank looks are returned from both boys "I'm hungry" Noah states.
Nice to meet you hungry, I'm tired. I lamely think but wisely do not say.
It occurs to me after they left that perhaps it is strange that I want more children, even though it would mean I would have to go back to this sort of life, which is one Bennett grew out of a long time ago. But I do, for all their foibles, they are wonderful.