Melanie was married to Paul. They married straight out of college at 18 and were very much in love. After seven years of a happy marriage, they had three children and a pet dog. Melanie felt good that her life was turning out so well, but soon, things would change.

Melanie had a fitness blog and was raising her three children. Her husband Paul was often away filming as a stunt double, sometimes for days. Even though they were both busy, they were pleased. But Melanie was often home alone, which bothered her. She hadn’t slept well in 10 months when strange noises started to occur in her house. 

It happened every night. For 10 months, she woke up feeling extremely tired and unable to remember her sleep the night before.

She told Paul about her concerns and worries.

Paul suggested she set up a camera to record what happened inside the house. 

Was she sleepwalking? If she were, that would certainly explain her tiredness. Melanie read the symptoms and realized she had many of them. Her heart raced as she thought she might need help, but first, she needed to be specific. So she did exactly what her husband said but found nothing like she expected. Her heart pounded as she got herself and the kids ready for bed that night. She set the camera on the ceiling at the foot of her bedroom and turned the lights off. She got the video camera ready the following day and nervously made coffee. She was now prepared to find out what was happening at night. The footage rolled, and she saw herself leaving her room to put her kids to bed; then, there was silence.

She pressed the fast-forward button, hoping she didn’t have a sleepwalking problem and that no one who shouldn’t have been there appeared. But that’s precisely what happened. Her eyes opened wide as she watched herself sleep, completely unaware. Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw two more shadows appear through the door and look over her. One got so close to her face that her jaw dropped as she wondered how she possibly slept through this. After putting her kids to bed a couple of times at 9 pm and 10 pm, they reappeared at two in the morning!

Her children were running around, and her dog joined them. He jumped on the bed, licked her face, and sniffed her. The most surprising thing about this was Melanie’s reaction. She seemed asleep and couldn’t remember anything but was still aware. She would cuddle her toddler and move her hair away whenever he tried to pull on it. She seemed to be half awake and half asleep.

She was so surprised by the video that she shared it on her website. She said, “Parenting doesn’t end when the sun goes down. During these moments, let’s think of all the other parents who are up with their babies simultaneously and take comfort in the fact that we are all doing the same thing.”

Melanie wanted to make people realize that being a mum is hard and never stops and that there are parts that people don’t talk about enough. Melanie often faces intense criticism as a young mum who shares her life and family online. People question her busy lifestyle, career, and decision to share so much of her family and kids online. But Melanie does everything for the benefit of her family and kids.