How to tame your dragon

I recently had a three week stint of my 6 month old waking 5-6 times a night. And let me tell you, with just a few hours of broken sleep under my belt I was nothing short of a fire-breathing dragony bitch!!!
Every person I spke to about this - including my trusted psychologist - ensures me sleep deprivation is nothing short of torture and that any bitchiness is completely understandable. It wasn't just my shrinking other half who copped it, and my beautiful girls: basically anything and everything in my path. It was off-road road rage. I hated all pens that didn't work, all batteries that dared flatten in my presence, weather that changed, birds that sang too loudly!
I was sleeping in my baby girl's room in order to keep an eye (and both ears) on her. The idea was that I'd pat her peacefully back to sleep through the night and avoid the frequent (teething) waking episodes of the previous few weeks. The results were disastrous. I woke with every grunt, squirm and wimper and spent more time smothering than mothering.
After four nights in a row of this and four very ugly, dragony mornings, I decided to focus on ME and MY SLEEP. I moved back into my room, pulled out my favourite pre bed meditation CDs and put in my favourite earplugs at around 8.30pm. She slept beautifully, as did I. ..for four nights running.
So, I stopped breathing fire and started singing Justine Clark's (PlaySchool fame) 'I'm a Happy Dog!' at the breakfast table while bouncing on my exercise ball between mouthfuls of bub's breakfast. The sun was out again, the mum-storm had passed.
But it all got me thinking. Early nights and pre-bed meditations can make the world of difference. But the fact is, Amy's only 7 months and I have alot of teeth, tantrums and long nights ahead of me. Am I too old for all this? Tough titties...I need to tackle the fire breathing dragon in me head-on. Did I lose all my patience with bub number 1? Again, tough titties!
Even if my mum friends and psychologist think it's completely justified and understandable, doesn't mean I'm happy about it, or that I think it's OK that my daughter's just confessed to me her ONE biggest wish would be that daddy and I weren't cranky ever again. (Just a week off would probably keep her happy).
So, I've decided to do what I can to 'tame the dragon' in me, find a way to deal with the motherload of babydom and sleep deprivation. I'm searching for answers, for a smoother road...I'll let you know what I find along the way.

Lyndal