Do you ever poke your kids awake?

I mean, I can't be the only insane concerned mother out there that regularly occasionally pokes their kids awake when they go to do that "final" night check before laying their own head comfortably down on the pillow for a restful night sleep.  Right?  RIGHT?!?!

I know many parents choose not to use monitors after a year and some even refrain from using them at all.  I'm was and still  am, so NOT that parent...

You see, I was THAT mom that spent way too much money on the Angelcare baby monitor systems.  You know the one that sets off an alarm if the baby stops breathing or moving?  The one the sets off another alarm if it gets too cold or too hot because it also monitors room temperature?  Ya!  THAT mother.  I also, shamefully (ok, not really but I think I should pretend to be in light of the discussion at hand) used those monitors until Ave & Bryce were almost two years old.  I was forced to stop using them because it just became way too stressful having the "not moving/breathing" alarm go off continuously because they had the audacity to move out of range of the sensor pad located under their mattress.  Kids...so inconsiderate sometimes dontcha think?  LOL!

I made the transition to a two-way video monitor system just before their 2nd Birthday.  You know the one that you can carry around like an iphone and you can switch back and forth from one kid to another?  The one that lets you listen in on them AND actually talk to them through a built in speaker in the camera in their room?  Ya!  THAT one.  Sweet?  You bet (if you are THAT mom)!

The transition from alarms to silence was not an easy one for me.  I liked the comfort that my Angelcare monitors gave me.  I didn't need to "see" them or even "hear" them because I knew that if there was a problem a big 'ole alarm would sound.  So to go from that to "just" being able to see them and talk to them left me a flippin' nervous wreck feeling uncomfortable.  It's been almost a year since I got those video monitors and I've adjusted as well as can be expected.  I do love the fact that I don't have to go running up the stairs and become totally exhausted and winded in the process, to tell them to go to bed, rather, I just have to press a button and yell give them a gentle reminder that it's "sleepy time" and that they had better not make me come upstairs.

However, my heart does skip a beat when they sleep 10 minutes past their usual wake-up times in the morning and/or at nap time and I admit, I poke them awake from time to time just to put my mind at ease.  Poor Bryce gets poked more than Ave as she snores like a drunken sailor and Bryce sleeps so soundly I think YOU'D be tempted to poke him awake too.  LMAO!

I've always had a wild imagination and it does sometimes interfere with the way in which I "operate" in the world.  I try to consciously not live in the "What If's" mind frame but when it comes to my kids, I've got a little more work to do.  I know there is a name for this and a medication to help but I figure I've lived with my many neurotic tendencies for so long, why stop the party now?  

If I am still poking them awake when they are teenagers, I'll seek some professional help...maybe.