When it’s 5:30M and you have to be up at 6am, do you try to fall back asleep? Or do you just get up early and start your day?
Or do you write a blog post on your phone, while laying in your bed? Refusing to commit either way?
I think you can guess what I’m doing.
When your kids are young and you’re desperate to get a full night’s sleep, you count the years until they are older. But the reality is your kids may be waking you up regularly until they leave the house. My son turns 10 next week and he only stopped needing near nightly soothing from me a year ago. Someone still needs something in the night, or simply wakes us up with their movements, at least once a week. at least.
And of course as we get older, a sold night’s sleep becomes ever more elusive. Since perimenopause, I sleep through the night less and less regularly.
Sundays are always a hard night for me. I sleep in until 8am on the weekends and falling asleep by midnight is even harder for me on Sundays that the rest of the week. I’m always really tired on Mondays, but I guess today I’ll be doubly so.
I don’t know how people who have more kids get any sleep. Or people who had their kids later (though I’m going through perimenopause early so maybe that is affecting me the same as someone who is older). Or people whose spouse doesn’t sleep well. Or snores (god does mine snore).
I guess most of us are just moving through life semi-exhausted. Or all the way exhausted.
Happy Monday.
I’ve decided the trick is to learn to be graceful when we have less sleep for one reason or another. Because not sleeping as and when we wish seems increasingly common among the aged people I know. Though no one I know has quite reached the every 2 hour waking and sleeping of a newborn. My new rule about waking too early is back into bed if it is between 4:30 and 5:30am, or before 2:30 am. AND NO NAPS, if tired take a walk outside during daylight hours. No going bed before 9pm but try for bed by 10 even if then read a half hour. AND SOMETIMES I BREAK THE RULES and discover that also bites.
So the best plan is to practice mindfulness and grace…… and tell anyone you live with that you are short of sleep and may need to take ‘time out’ if you get crabby.
HUGS. I was up too. BEST WISHES TODAY.
I was talking about this with a friend of mine Saturday night – we both agree our ideal schedule is to actually get in bed around 11:30 and read, sleep until 8 or 8:30, start work around 10 and work until 6, then workout, cook dinner, commence evening activities, etc – I sleep amazing if I go to bed at midnight. Unfortunately kids schedules don’t accommodate this at all – my employer would actually be fine if I worked 10 to 6. Something to look forward to, I guess.