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I said in my last post that I was feeling unmotivated. I think it's because I am just. so. tired.
I mentioned to someone on the phone today that I was asleep early last night. Early meaning I was asleep by 11:30. And this is early?? Before Jim left I was asleep between 10 and 10:30. That works best for me. Here's the deal though -- I have a night owl. If I get her to bed too early, I get all kinds of whining. If I get her in bed by about 9:30, she'll be asleep by 10 or 10:30 on a good day; closer to 11 or 11:30 on a bad day. I really don't like being asleep when there are children awake, which means I don't even think about going to bed before about 10:30. I really crave some quiet time every day though, which means after she is finally asleep, I stay up for a while just enjoying the quiet in the house and relaxing, or straightening things up around the house or whatever. By now it's close to midnight. Then there are some other issues -- getting up one more time to make sure the doors are locked, just checking on things, etc. So then I finally get to sleep.
Next problem. I am the world's lightest sleeper. The dog rolls over in her cage and it wakes me up. The cat chews her food and it wakes me up. The birds eat the dog's food and it wakes me up. The a/c turns on, the a/c turns off, a car goes by, ice falls from the ice maker, a lizard burps ... you get the point. (Except the lizard thing. That was an exaggeration. I don't think I have ever really been awakened by a burping lizard.) Part of this is due to the before mentioned anxiety issues and part of it is due to just my nature.
And then there's yet another problem. The boy wakes up at dawn. He comes in and jubilantly announces that the sun is up and nicely requests his chocolate milk. I respond with a joyful "mmpf" and pray that he will just crawl in bed with me and go back to sleep. One morning in twenty this works. The second time he requests his chocolate milk, it's not as nice. The third time he pulls out that boy voice.
So how do I fix this? I'm really looking for suggestions here. I can't change her clock or his clock, and I can't change the fact that I need at least a short while every day where someone isn't making demands on me. I could try to take a little less quiet time and get to bed a little earlier, but I don't think thirty minutes is really going to help all that much. I'm sure I could look into some sleep aids to help with the light sleeping, but I'm really scared to do that.
So ... do any of you have suggestions? My children will thank you for any help you might be able to give me. Have I mentioned how grumpy I get when I'm tired?
Thursday, August 20, 2009
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6 comments:
Oo Oo I know! Pick me!
(smiles joyfully because you've noticed her enthusiam)
Give the boy to me! :D
Melanie, My six year old is never ready for bed when I am and I get grumpy when I'm exhausted. Just this week we started something new. She gets ready for bed, I pray with her and instruct her to stay in her room unless she needs me or needs to go potty again. She has a stack of her favorite books or her search and find workbook and one pencil. There's nothing in the room that she could get into trouble using! No markers, crayons, paint, polish, other hazards. She turns the light out and puts herself to bed. Last night when I put her to bed this way she told me that I am so much nicer now! LOL! I think it is working. I hope this helps. You are in my prayers. :)
For the early bird boy, how about something like this..http://www.amazon.com/My-Tot-Clock-Children-Better-So/dp/B001QS802K/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1250859576&sr=8-14
with strict instructions that you can't come out of your room until it is yellow.
I would also do what Duncan suggested with the night owl. I have always had a "I don't care what you do until you go to sleep, but do not come out of your room again" rule.
Me...too....zzzzzzz. Caedmon is up every morning around 6:30 and exclaims, "Pweease I have a drink and watch a show?!?!?" at the top of his lungs. That wakes Halia up and we all go from there. And Hubby doesn't go to bed until midnight, or 1 even. So tired. Very grumpy when tired.....
One thing my mom used that became a staple in our house was a version of the "don't care what you do, just stay in your room." The twist was that she did it during the day. She was never comfortable with the whole up-at-night unsupervised thing, but during the day she would set us up in our rooms - no tv, no radio, no anything that would make noise - just books, quiet imaginary play items, maybe some coloring stuff, and have quiet hour. It was understood that even speech during this hour, if between my brother and I, was to be in whispers. And there had better not BE speech between either of us and her!! Sometimes she slept, sometimes she got in a phone call or a book chapter, sometimes she showered *uninterrupted*. But it was always just enough time of quiet away from the demands that allowed her to cope with her two night owls!
And a personal tip if you choose to do this: go to Target and get one of their deluxe sleep masks. It's amazing how much more restful even a non-sleeping quiet time is with one of those over your face. And it's a visual reminder to the kids to LEAVE ME ALONE!!
I like Becky's idea. This seems like the best thing...if you can keep the kids in their rooms. And the mask thing...I think I laughed when I read the whole thing with the mask...a visual reminder to leave mom alone...yes!!! That would prob work!!
And, BTW, I think that after you have children you just sleep lighter. I have found that I am a light sleeper too. Maybe because I'm just afraid that I will miss that small whimper during the night that my child will need me after a bad dream or whatever. Maybe it's just a natural thing for mommies.
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