Recharge

Waking up from uninterrupted sleep, for me, is like heaven on earth. Having two young children, especially ones who inherited my sleeping traits, makes it difficult to get consistent sleep.

I’m a light sleeper. Every little thing wakes me up. I use to use the television to drown out the noises (cats going bananas, tapping of blinds hitting the window from the AC blowing on it, noises from outside, and even my husband’s obnoxious snoring). The t.v. at least was a consistent, expected, noise. Like I mentioned previously, I have finally done away with sleeping with the television on. You can read about that here. 

While I do sleep better now that the light of the television is not waking me up, I still do not sleep enough. A typical night is sleeping in blocks of 1 to 2 hours at time. I would say, in total, I sleep about 4 or 5 hours a night on average. 

While I can function on little sleep, that doesn’t mean I am not struggling during the day. Being a stay at home mom, people often assume we can sleep whenever we want to. People also tell me to sleep when the baby sleeps. If I didnt care about getting things done around the house, then sure that may work. I do care, though. 

Not only that, but since both my kids have, apparently, got their sleeping gene from me, taking naps is not something they do well. Pickle has not taken naps since he was about 2 years old. Even before that, we were lucky to get 1 nap in the day. Poppy has been the same way thus far. She is almost 8 months old and will take a 1 hour nap and a couple 20 minute naps each day, if we are lucky. Needless to say, my kids do not fit the criteria of how many hours they are supposed to be sleeping. 

Sleep is a very much needed thing, especially consistent uninterrupted sleep. Think of it this way, when your phone’s battery is low, you plug it in. If you are on your phone while it’s plugged in, you recharge time is going to take longer and might not even charge it at all. Much like, if you are tired and you try to sleep, but keep being woke up, you’re not going to feel energized. If you plug your phone in and leave it alone, it’s going to charge optimally and you will soon have a full battery again. 

Consisted, uninterrupted sleep, is absolutely necessary. It is necessary to your health and ability to function. 

Now, I know I cannot predict each night because I do have young children, but I can do my best to do better for myself. Meaning, do not spend hours binge watching Netflix or scrolling social media. Put the technology away and go to sleep because let’s face it, if I don’t get enough sleep it makes for a cranky day for everyone. Patience wears thin quickly. When I do get consistent sleep I feel like I can take on the world. Adulting doesn’t seem so bad when you are fully recharged. I am a better mom and wife when I have had enough sleep. I am a better me. 

It is important to put sleep as a priority. You have to have that time to recharge. You will thank yourself for it, your kids, partner, coworkers, and people you come across will thank you for it. 

So what are you waiting for? Go recharge your batteries.

-Jenn