Sleep Long and Prosper
ByHmmm…what have I learned today? I have learned that getting a good amount of sleep makes an immense difference in the quality of my day, despite the actions of those around me.
Sarah woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, constantly crying and whining over every little thing that didn’t go the way she wanted it to. Actually, I think she just cried about every thing that happened, good or bad. She was a wreck. Since I went to bed early last night, around 10 o’clock, I didn’t lose my temper with her, or lash out at Christopher and Pucci because I was frustrated with Sarah. In fact, not only did I keep my cool with Sarah, I actually started to feel concerned for her and thought that she might be sick. I asked her, “Sarah, are you okay? Are you feeling a little bit sick? Are you still tired? Do you need to go lay down a little bit longer?” She said no to all of these inquiries, so when I again asked, “What’s wrong, Sweetie? Why are you crying so much this morning?” she replied, with her little quivering voice, “I have some issues.” She then proceeded to bawl some more. I suggested that perhaps she needed to go talk to Daddy and snuggle with him a little more, since she only snuggled with him a little bit this morning.
After her breakfast sunk in, her mood improved quite a bit, but she started to get really tired around noon. Now, Sarah is not a napper–she pretty much gave up on sleeping during the day after her first month in our world. On really active days, she might peter out around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but that’s still very rare. So, when Sarah started falling asleep in the car at 12:15, I got a little worried about what the rest of our day might look like. More importantly, I worried that I might miss out on any adult time in the evening! She almost drifted off on the way to her friend Ava’s house for lunch, but she didn’t quite fall asleep. When we walked in, however, she proclaimed that she didn’t want to eat, and when I asked her to at least sit at the table and keep Ava company, a tantrum ensued. So, I had to carry her back to the car crying, but again, I was okay–calm, cool, and collected. I didn’t really want to leave, but I was alright. Thank goodness for a good night’s sleep.
These types of interactions continued throughout the day, especially after she awoke from what turned out to be a very brief nap, but I was still in a good mood as I washed the dishes after dinner. I don’t think I can really determine if I accomplished more or less today than I usually do, but I definitely feel better about my day overall. Even if I wasn’t more productive, I didn’t feel the stress or sense of urgency that I usually feel from the moment I begrudgingly get out of bed to tend to everyone else’s needs. After an adequate amount of sleep, rising in the morning isn’t completely unpleasant. In fact, it wasn’t bad at all–it felt kind of good.
So, I have a new goal of going to bed around 10 o’clock every night. Now, I’ve had this goal plenty of times before, but it always came with the flip side of trying to wake up early, like at 5:30 or 6 am. That’s really the part of the goal that I always dreaded. So, I’m not including that part this time. Heck, I’m always getting up around that time to feed Pucci the Pig anyway, so I don’t see why I have to stay up! So, I’m just aiming to go to bed early, get enough sleep, and wake up when it’s time to wake up to take care of my family. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out. Let me know if you have any tips for me to stick with it!
