Rude awakening--literally

I go to bed nightly with resolve (though sometimes weak) to get along with AKA better the next day. Each night I pray for patience, kindness, tolerance, etc. in my dealings with her--because 90% of the time, everything has fallen apart by the end of the day.

But W.T.F. am I supposed to do with a day like this, that starts out shitty BEFORE I even open my eyes?

Her latest troubling routine is to get into my bed at 4 or 5am, and go back to sleep until 6 or 7. I hate it. Because I can't usually get back to sleep. And she sleeps like someone being electrocuted, so each time I fall back asleep I get a WHACK or THUMP somewhere on  my body or head. I also have to be careful not to lie facing her because I could lose an eye.

Well, today, she got into my bed at 4:45am. I didn't have the energy to talk her into going back to her own bed. We both went back to sleep, and then, at 6:45am, she apparently woke up, looked over to see that I was sleeping, and decided that was simply unacceptable. She got right up in my sleeping face and completely freaked out.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Nooooooooooooo! Wake! Up! YOU! WAKE! UP!"

Then proceeded with a temper tantrum because I did not instantly pop up out of bed all cheery. I continued to lie there, rubbing my eyes, hoping it was all a bad dream.

Then she stomped around the house pouting, growling, stamping, furrowed brows and all.

So what does a good parent do after such a rude and abusive wake up? I have no idea.

What I did though was tell her in my serious "don't mess with me" voice that we will try to be friends again tomorrow if she can wake up nicely and talk nicely to Mommy, but that for today, LEAVE ME ALONE!

Oh, and the special plush bear her counselor gave us for the separation anxiety has backfired. It has a place on its tummy that opens where you can put a picture. The idea is that we put a picture of me, or of us, in it so when she wakes in the night she can look at the picture and feel secure, rather than coming to my room every time she wakes up. For some reason, when I gave her the bear and we picked out a picture for it, it made her super clingy to me in the time before bed. Then when she came into my room at 4:45, she came in to show ME the picture!!! Totally misunderstood the instructions I carefully tried to explain about how she is to look at the picture when she wakes up in the nighttime, and NOT come to wake up Mommy!

My next plan is to make a cardboard cut out of myself to place at the foot of her bed.