Whenever one of my children is cranky or short-tempered, I assume that they need more sleep and make them take a nap, or go to bed early. Yet I seem incapable of policing myself in this way.
I’ve had a very short fuse all week. This is partly due to what seems like a neverending to-do list, but it’s also because I’m tired. Very, very tired. But do I make an effort to get the sleep I need? Nope. Because after my children go to bed, that’s my time. The only time I have for myself all day, when no one is demanding anything from me! I like to sit down, unwind, have some cocoa, maybe read a book or watch a little TV.
Every night, I give myself a limit, as in, “I will only stay up until 10:00, and then it’s off to bed!” But I never stick to my limit, and before I know it it’s midnight, the book is falling on my face because I keep dozing off, and yet I STILL force my eyes to stay open. I think it’s because I know that if I fall asleep, it will be morning in a blink. And I HATE mornings.
I’ve tried getting up before everyone else, in order to have time for myself, but this doesn’t work. I’m not a morning person. No matter when I go to bed, I feel unable to fully wake up until 9:00. Getting up early (IE: before 7:00 A.M.) makes me testy. My husband doesn’t understand this, because he’s an early bird of the most insufferable variety for someone like me. He’s cheerful, (and loud), and full of boundless energy in the morning. Typically, I find him to be almost unbearably adorable, but in the morning, when he’s all energetic and chipper, and I’m exhausted and miserable, I glare at him over the rim of my coffee cup and silently will him to please, please stop talking before my brain explodes! A few years ago, I got really fed up with listening to him tell me about how all my problems would be solved if only I got up earlier! – and I gave him this article.
Early Bird or Night Owl, Work Around Your Body Clock!
It explains that genetics are responsible for how our body clocks function:
“The reason why some people are larks and others owls is genetic. Scientists from the Sleep Laboratory at the University of Surrey discovered that the body-clock gene, Period 3, which determines whether we are larks or owls, also controls how we are affected by sleep deprivation. Apparently, there are two types of the gene, a longer and a shorter, and those with the former need more sleep. “
So there, Mr. Early Bird.
Anyway, I realize that it’s best for me to work around my body clock, and generally I do, but the problem is that 2 of my 3 children seem to take after their father, and therefore I’m an owl living in a nest of larks. Cakes is the only one of our kids who hates mornings. If left to her own devices, she wakes up between 9:00 and 10:00, with a rat’s nest of hair and a grumpy countenance, and goes straight to the sofa, where she must not be disturbed until she is fully awake and free of crabbiness. Which is exactly how I feel in the morning.
In an effort to restore my usual patience (I want no commentary from anyone on this! Dad!) and good humor, I’ve resolved to go to bed earlier tonight, or to at least take a nap. Presuming that these two will let me.
