It's 5am...

Scene: Hatzell home. It is five o'clock in the morning.

Marj bolts awake from a great dream about her son's neurologist. She will not insult you and tell you the details of that dream, since you can probably guess. Marj hears something, looks over at her husband. He is fast asleep. The dog is snoring at the foot of the bed on her favorite blanket. Marj is just about to settle back to sleep when she hears noises across the hall.

A blood curdling scream ensues, followed by banging on Bugaboo's door. He is trying to get out of the room, but they keep it locked so he cannot go outside to play in the wagon at six am, like last week. Marj jumps up, opens Bugaboo's door and tried to quiet him quickly, so as not to wake the rest of the household.

She cuddles with Bugaboo as he screams and flails his arms and legs. He is out of control, running around the room, literally trying to climb the walls. She scoops him up again, attempts to climb back under the cuddles and whispers to him, "It's okay, Momma is here. Shhhh...Momma is here, it is okay." He continues to scream, attempts to flee. After fifteen minutes of out-of-control screaming Marj decides to try getting Bugaboo something to drink. This, of course, sets him off screaming the most horribly imaginable cry. He sounds like someone is trying to hurt him, like he is scared beyond belief.

Marj makes her way downstairs in the pitch black as quickly as she can drag her sorry behind down there. Once the cup is filled (exact proportions of juice and water, just the right temperature!) she groggily climbs the stairs again, grasping for the railing that has not been hanging on the wall since she moved into her home a year ago. She enters Bugaboo's room, hands him the cup, "Here, sweetie. Momma got you some juice. Do you want to drink your juice?" Bugaboo stands there screaming, but manages to take sips in between the hysterical hiccups. He can barely take a breath, is shaking uncontrollably. He begins to quiet down. Marj snuggles down under the covers once again. Ever few sips he returns to the wild-animal-like cry. It becomes clear that this is not going to stop without some desperate measures. With a sigh, she tells him, "We are going downstairs. " He takes her hand and they walk down slowly.

They make it to the family room and Marj turns the dimmer on very low. She turns on the television and asks Bugaboo what he would like to watch. He stands there gasping and crying, "Maaaamaaaaaa!" She shows him Chicka Chicka, Thomas and Wiggles. He stares at the Wiggles. She takes it as his sign that he made up his mind and puts Top of the Tots in the DVD player. Not her favorite!

The music starts and Bugaboo climbs on the couch. He is finally silent. It is nearly five-thirty. Marj gets blankets and they snuggle on the couch. She drifts off for a few minutes but he climbs onto her and wakes her. She must keep watch with him. He will not allow her to close her eyes for long, placing his chilly hands on her warm cheeks and making eye contact with her each time. She still manages to drift off a few more times before the DVD goes back to the main menu. He hops down off the couch, runs to the DVD, pushes play and then climbs quickly under the covers. The next time Marj opens her eyes he is putting the DVD on for the third time. A few moments later she hears someone get up to go to the bathroom. The alarm is going off.

Marj reluctantly gets up from the couch and wearily goes upstairs to make sure Bug Boy and Darling are getting up, showered and dressed. She dresses herself, pulls her hair back under a bandanna and returns to the kitchen to start breakfast and get medicine for Bugaboo. She makes darling's breakfast (toast with honey) and begins fantasizing about dozing off peacefully once the kids are on their buses and Darling goes to work. That fantasy is interrupted by the realization that she watches her neighbor's children before and after school.

An hour later Bugaboo is dancing up and down the sidewalk waiting for his bus. He sees it off in a distance and hugs Marj's legs. He laughs out loud and claps his little hands together, holding one of his bus toys. As the bus picks up the child down the street Bugaboo begins to jump higher than a Jack Russel. The bus finally pulls up to our driveway and before the driver can put the bus into park, turn on the flashing lights and open the doors, Bugaboo has already tried to pry them open. He jumps on the bus, the aide straps him into his five-point harness and they soon drive away. Marj waves to the children, happy that she gets a few moments of peace but sad that she will not see her kids for nearly eight hours. It is sometimes more that she can stand.