I am not an early riser. Indeed, I love being a night owl. I've been able to rationalize to myself that if I stay up late, then I can a lot done even though I really am tired. No one will get up and interrupt me. By golly, if I were to get up early, someone would be sure to hear me and get up. And then they'd need help going potty. And then they'd want some breakfast to go with that. And then ?well, you get the picture.
Thus far, I've successfully ignored such maxims as “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” (Aristotle), “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” (Ben Franklin), and “The early bird gets the worm” (old cliche).
Apparently, I've also been able to blow off scriptural references, such as “Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.” (Psalms 57:8), “How long wilt thou asleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?” (Proverbs 6:9), ” ?cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.” (D&C 88: 124).
And shall we go on to the words of our prophets and apostles. Harold B. Lee said “Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested, and then, in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day. ? Ezra Taft Benson said, “Early to bed and early to rise is still good counsel.”
Many people are naturally “morning people.” I am not. However, I can't ignore it any more. Successful people get up earlier in the morning and get going while the rest of us are still in bed. I want to be successful and I want my kids to be, too.
On those occasions when I do get up early, the day starts off right. It sets the tone for the whole day. If I were to choose to get up leisurely (instead of rushing) after a restful night's sleep, it would be a lot easier to choose a peaceful beginning. If you get up earlier, you gain extra time. I read that if you get up 90 minutes earlier, that's like getting a bonus year every decade!
So how on earth do I become an early riser? I've tried many times and never stuck with it for very long. I would assume that since I was going to get up earlier, I needed to get to bed earlier. So instead of going to bed at 11:30 and getting up at 8:00 am, all I had to do was go to bed at 10:00 and I'd be able to get up at 6:30 am, instead. This doesn't work. Our bodies have a natural wake time, so even when I go to bed earlier, I still feel like waking up at the same time.
I never could figure out exactly how to get up earlier, until I read a great series of articles on Steve Pavlina. Steve says that to become an early riser, your best bet is to (1) go to bed when you feel sleepy that is, when you could fall asleep within 15 minutes and (2) get up at a fixed time. Your patterns will settle into a natural rhythm; if you get too little sleep one night, you'll feel sleepier earlier the next night. If you go to bed like your body tells you to, you'll get more sleep the next night. It seems I can stay up endlessly if I'm working on the computer or reading an interesting book, I'm sure it would help if I listened more to my body.
Steve Pavlina also recommends you actually practice getting out of bed when your alarm goes off. But not at 6:00 in the morning. Do it when you're wide awake. Set the conditions as though you were going to bed. Set your alarm for a few minutes ahead, then lie down on your bed and pretend to sleep. As soon as the alarm clock goes off, turn it off as fast as you can, take a deep breath, and get out of bed. Practice this several times a day until it's an ingrained habit. (Read the articles titled “How to Become an Early Riser,” “How to Become an Early Riser, Part II,” and “How to Get Up Right When the Alarm Goes Off” on Steve's website for a more detailed description.)
Elder Joe J. Christensen said in his article, I Resolve (Jan. 1998 New Era)
You can have a similar experience in your own life. You can change, even if you consider yourself a night person. ? Set the habit in 21 days. When it comes right down to it, it is a matter of strong resolve and “mind over mattress.”
I also know that prayer will help me gain this righteous desire of mind over mattress, if I will but ask for help.
I haven't done this yet, and I'm quite sure it's because I like being a night owl I don't want to give up my late night/early mornings. But we all know it's a truth that we should get up early, and it's time for me to do something about it. This will be my summer goal because I know that getting up early in the morning will make me a better person, wife, and mother. So if you're a night owl, wanna join me?
Can my husband join you? He has so many sleep problems.
Ain’t it the truth! I can’t help but wonder if that’s the syllogism behind the inspiration for Laurie Joffe Numeroff’s book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”.
I’m an odd sort. I’m a night owl and a morning person. I’d be up until midnight or 1am each day if I hadn’t decided long ago that I need to go to bed when my husband does, usually around 10:30 or 11. But even when I do stay up for one reason or another, even until 1 or 2, I’m still waking up around 6 without the assistance of an alarm. Why? I have no clue. There was actually a period where I was automatically waking up around 3:30. I think my hormones were throwing a tantrum or something.
With all the extra time I have, from being awake during more hours of the day, you’d think I’d get more done! But our house is pretty small, and like you said, if I actually try to get anything done, it wakes people up. I still haven’t figured out how my husband can be woken up by a light I turn on in the living room, when he’s asleep in the next room with the door shut and his eyes closed. If he sees the light go on, doesn’t that mean he was already awake?
Naturally, there are days when I do “sleep in”, though they’re rather infrequent. And on those days, I end up feeling groggy all day, like I can’t really concentrate and don’t have very much energy or motivation to get much done.
So funny that this article appeared this morning! I was really struggling this morning and felt like I could sleep forever (until the phone rang– that is an excellent alarm clock for me!) I think the issue with me right now is that I need to eat more protein. Actually, I need to EAT. I haven’t been real focused on food the past few days and I think my body is starting to feel it. Shame on me, and I will do better. I promise!
That said, I am definitely GUILTY, what can I say? I am a night owl. As you may have noticed, at times I stay up until all hours. As far as mornings, my mornings are usually pretty regular. My daughter gets up at 5:00 to practice her instruments. Depending on what time I went to bed, I usually don’t hear her shower or practice the piano because she’s on the clavinova with ear phones. However, when she starts on the harp at 6:00 I gradually wake to beautiful angel music. I lie in bed and listen and use that time to think and thank and plan. At 6:30 she switches to the cello, and my son arrives for breakfast (I know this because I hear cupboards opening and closing). At 6:55 I drag myself and my big blanket out to the couch where at 7:00 everyone gathers for family scripture study and prayer.
For most of my life I have required less than the normal 8 hours of sleep recommended (I say most because when I am healing physically or emotionally I actually require the full 8 hours or more, and it is obvious. My days feel REALLY short when I am sleeping like normal people! I guess maybe I DO listen to my body and follow it’s cue.) If, during these normal times, I happen to go to bed at 10:30 or 11:00 my body wakes up at 3:00 or 3:30 (they actually say that any hours slept before midnight count as double– I have found that to be very true!) If for some odd reason I end up falling asleep at 9:00 or 9:30, I’m wide awake by 1:00 or 2:00 and can’t go back to sleep. At times I have felt really guilty about this with all of the counsel you quoted swimming through my head. At one of my yearly check-ups I mentioned my sleep habits to my doctor and she said that while she was supposed to counsel me to sleep for 8 hours a day no matter what, the bottom-line is that some people, including some doctors, just plain and simply do not require the same amount of sleep. She said that some people only require 4-5 hours. My ideal sleeping time is 5-6 hours. After that amount of time (considering that if those hours are before midnight they count as double!) my body is wide awake and ready for another day. If it happens to be the middle of the night and I force myself to go back to sleep I am groggy and useless the whole next day.
So . . . what to do? I still struggle with it. The counsel from the prophet remains “early to bed.” I have always made it a point to follow the prophets counsel, and perhaps you could say sleeping habits are one of my favorite sins that I struggle to give up. I try to justify myself by saying I follow Benjamin Franklin’s life in that I sleep when I’m tired and I work when I’m not. I have been blessed with a very flexible schedule and quite honestly, for the most part I can do that (of course, sometimes I’m tired in the middle of a meeting or when the kids need to be somewhere and sleeping isn’t conducive to the schedule!) I do seem to get a lot done with my extra time, which is nice, and most of it is during those night owl hours. A few years ago I could conquer the world between 9:30 and 1:00. Then my older kids started staying up later and later and my production became less and less. I do find it MUCH more difficult to get things done when kids are awake, even if they aren’t necessarily right where I am. Just knowing that they could need something at any moment keeps me from going into that total production deep focus mode I can go into when they are away.
Well, I am going to keep that promise and go get something to eat. My body is telling me it would like that, and I’d better listen!
I am soooooo glad Molly posted this great article. I love all the references, even though the induced guilt is not sitting well. Molly and I have actually talked about this shared issue many times. I have been a night owl since I was two (probably sooner, but those are my first memories of it) and it drove my parents to distraction. And my sister ?I shared a room with her ?and it made her bonkers. I would sit and my window and stare outside until after midnight at only four. Or talk and talk and talk.
My biggest problems are that, no matter how much sleep I’ve had the night before, I cannot go to sleep at a normal time. I can rag around all day, but I’ll still be wide awake at 10:00 ?12:00. On Sunday night I left on a red-eye from Hawaii. Probably amassed a total of three hours sleep that night. Took about a one hour nap on Monday (because the whole rest of the family crashed most of the day). Then, I went to bed at 4:00 am Tuesday ?because I just wasn’t tired.
Unfortunately, it’s not a case of just needing less sleep, because getting up is ALWAYS horrible and I can be tired and irritable all day. But at night ?ding ?wide awake again.
I’ve tried all the methods I know including light therapy and sleeping pills. But I’m determined to overcome this with Molly’s kick in the pants. Thanks, Molly. My husband will bless you.
I was going to ask “Of all you night owls out there, HOOOO wants to join me?” but I figured that was probably too corny. I only thought of it because, yes, I admit I was writing that article between 11 and 12 midnight. A bit ironic, huh? When, of course, my thoughts start to get silly. According to “I Resolve,” If I were writing in the early morning, I would be getting more flashes of inspiration rather than silly thoughts!
I do think that staying up late is just one of those counsels I’ve chosen not to follow because I don’t really want to, and I also don’t dare pray for help because it would make me change. I’ve got all sorts of great excuses not to follow the counsel. But that’s all they are, excuses. I really did go out on a limb for myself posting this article, because like Alison said on another discussion, it’s hard to tell people what your big goals are – because what if you fail? But if you do tell other people, you’re more likely to succeed.
I’m hoping we can use this list as kind of a support group, where we can post our successes (but not our failures – since this month’s book is The Secret, we need to think and talk about this positively!)
LOL. Too Funny, Molly!
I’m glad that Alison selected The Secret to discuss because I have learned that our words are powerful and whatever we tell ourselves and others is what will show up in our lives. I am excited to hear people’s different perspectives. While most books and forums that discuss this principle focus on money and things, I believe this is because they are easier to quantify. The truth is that we can also use the law of attraction to create more time in our day, better relationships, stress free lives, greater capacity for learning, etc. The law of attraction is actually much more fun to see in action in the realm of the somewhat ‘unmeasurables.’
Actually, we could use it to overcome our night owl tendencies– hmmm, I hadn’t thought of that before. The question is do we want to? Am I really ready to give up my favorite sin?
Tell you what, I’ll join you! In the past I have been a night owl, but I am so happy now that I follow the prophet’s counsel and go to bed by 10:30 every night. Whenever my body has had enough sleep I wake up and use those early morning hours to think, thank, plan, write, read and accomplish many worthwhile things in my life.
Molly, that’s just what I’ve always hoped this forum would be. In fact, my very first message board for Mormon Momma in 2003 (the old kind that is divided into categories) was all organized by goal focus area.
I, too, am struggling with the idea of NOT being a night owl. It’s like NOT being a red head. I don’t even know what that place looks like. But, I’m in with both of you. I’m proud to be in such good company.
Maybe we just need to re-frame our concept of night owl. Frankly, I have no doubt that going to bed by 10:30, or even 11:00, will mean that my body wakes up by 4:00 or 5:00. Frankly, that’s still night to me! Maybe we just need to start thinking of ourselves as night owls that ‘do our thing’ on the other end of the ‘night.’
I’m not sure how much of this is a should that will be for everyone. I have struggled with this my entire life. And now with chronic fatigue problems it’s not just a matter of resetting my clock because even one bad night can set me back for days. My husband gave me a blessing a couple of weeks ago that basically said I shouldn’t feel guilty for something that is really perhaps beyond my control. So I believe that the principle is soooo good and true, but I’m still not sure that it’s something that I can change, and frankly I’m tired of hating myself every night when I go to bed. Can’t grace fill in with something like this too? Is it possible to be a righteous person if you stay up late? Besides, I always get my best inspiration at night. (I’ll never forget one of the most significant experiences I had spiritually and I looked to heaven and said, “If you really want me to change my schedule, you shouldn’t reinforce this! But there you go…He gave me inspiration anyway, even though I’m not perfect.)
I dunno, folks, if there is anyone who is a doctrine lover it’s me, but I am not sure that I can handle the guilt for something I have tried and tried and tried to change and now feel circumstances make it nearly impossible for me to do so. You can’t know the misery this issue brings into my life and yet like I said I’m not sure I’m in a place where it can change. I HAVE to get 8-10 hours of sleep with my health issues and I have a terrible time getting to sleep — always have. So what’s a girl to do?
Ugh. Sorry. I’m having a horrible day and this just is hard.
In other words, can’t grace fill in in a situation like this sometimes? Do I have to be able to do it all myself or can I just say, this one has got to be on the Lord cuz I can’t carry the guilt and it seems no matter what I try, it never works?
Like I said, I’m having a really hard day….
*sends hugs to mlinford*
I don’t think you’re sinning if you stay up at night. “Early to bed” is a suggestion – it is counsel, not a commandment. The important thing is what you do with that time. But that’s just my opinion. As a brutal morning person, I’m probably not the best resource on this one.
Thanks, SilverRain. I don’t see this in commandment form, either, although I hate that kind of rationalization. But in the end, I hate hating myself over something, too, and feel the need to seek grace more than a better schedule at this point. Don’t know if that makes sense (and I realize that my two comments were repetitive, sorry).
I think we each have our own biological rhythms that we either flow with or go against. I too, am like “facethemusic”, I go to bed late & get up early, often burning the candle at both ends. Working “day shift” i.e. 7A to 830P as a RN, I’m grateful for those individuals whose clock allows them to work night shift. I’ve tried it and about 330 or 4AM, I’m nauseated from lack of sleep, it’s just not in me to work through the night. All that being said, I’ve have to come clean (like it’s a 12 step program!), I am addicted to my TiVo and watch endless hours of mindless television. I initially purchased it so I could “go to bed early” i.e. record my 10PM shows & watch them the next day. HaHa, I just doubled my TV time!! Now that my husband is retired & is offically the world’s #1 Night Owl, watching TV to all hours, we are now watching Letterman, etc. It is just getting worse & I’m getting crankier. So, I have an addiction issue coupled with a sleep issue. But the old hormones are throwing a fit & I too, struggle to get a full night’s sleep. I don’t know what the answer is for everyone but the world needs the night owl’s as well as the early birds! And sometimes we are both at the same time!!!
The Lord needs people who are alert and awake at night, too. I’d be the Crankiness Queen if it weren’t for my night-owl husband getting up at night to take care of the baby. I think the counsel is more to counteract the sort of purposeful staying-up-at-night that leads to sleeping in all hours of the morning and lazing around. That doesn’t fit what I know of you. It’s a matter of looking at the spirit of the law. If you are staying up because you can’t sleep, that is different than staying up clubbing.
be the Crankiness Queen if it weren’t for my night-owl husband getting up at night to take care of the baby.
This has been huge for us, especially with three children born in three years.
I keep thinking they will discover an island in the Pacific (cuz my schedule puts me somewhere between mainland west coast and Hawaii) and they will need missionaries there. Woohoo doggy! I’d be right on track, hitting the ground running. You watch. It could happen….. :shocked:
Three children born in three years? Yikes. You are a superwoman. *goes to nominate you on the Mother-of-the-Year thread*
BTW, I don’t mean to put a damper on the enthusiasm that some people have about tackling this. I just happen to be on the exhausted end of the battle needing something different than a new schedule. At least for now. 😉 But that doesn’t mean that you are right on with what you are reflecting on. Sorry I dumped here, but you know, sometimes you need a shoulder, even if it’s online. 🙂
Yeah, whatever, SilverRain. 🙂 Not even. That was heaven’s idea, not ours. At least not completely. I am not the type who would have ever dreamed I could do that (still don’t know how I did, actually) but clearly it has a place because then the health issues hit which meant no more babies and now I have three who can play together which lightens my load. I just wish I could see ahead now to know what I will be grateful for from this era. Sigh. But that is the way trials are, right? Only in hindsight do we really understand (and sometimes not even then).
If I may ask, how old are your kids?
8, 7, 5 1/2 — fun ages.
Wow . . . that’s great. I can’t even imagine mine being that old. I’m glad I have awhile to wait, she’s so fun right now. 🙂
Savor it all. It really does go by so fast. 🙂
I never meant for this to be a “should” for you all, or to induce guilt. I too have struggled this with all my life too, but like I said in the article, if so many wise, successful people counsel us to get up early and go to bed early, well, then… it’s probably a very worthwhile goal. I’m sure all of us night owls have big obstacles in the way of being early risers, otherwise we would be early risers, right? And I don’t think it’s just a matter of expending a little extra self-discipline. There may be medical issues or whatever. But I truly do believe that if we have the righteous desire to become an early riser/early to bedder and we pray for help, we can do it. My biggest thing is that I’ve never had a BIG enough of a righteous desire to actually ask. So my first baby step in the right direction is simply to pray for the desire to become an early riser.
Mlinford, sorry you struggle with your sleep! And maybe if you pray about it, you’ll find that God doesn’t require it of you at this time. I surely can’t presume to know what’s best for all of us.
My thoughts exactly. We can only work on those things in our lives that we are able to at any given time. We can’t work on everything — at least not if you’re like me, and have a million things that need working on.
For me, right now, I think it’s time to tackle this issue. I think it will improve my quality of life and, actually, resolve some spiritual issues. I don’t know how to explain that right now, but if this obstacle of disobedience is removed, I feel it would benefit my life in other ways.
So, this was very timely and motivating for me. Anyone else who feels likewise is free to join in. 🙂
I kinda have to laugh at my last post, it sounds like I’m so in the “wishful thinking stage” with no actual doing yet, lol! But for me that’s a huge step in the right direction to actually want to have the desire to do this! (I first wrote that I actually want to want to – hmmm… must be time for BED!!!) 🙂
SilverRain, forgot to answer your question about your DH. Personally I think that would be great for him to join us, however, ya just can’t make another person change their sleep habits unless THEY have the desire! At the very least, have him read the Steve Pavlina articles. They were some of the most informative articles I’d ever read on the subject.
Once again, sorry for dumping. You go, girls! Tell me what tricks worked and maybe I’ll find my magic bullet in your experiences! 🙂
Whoo hoo! I went to bed at 1:30 am and got up at 8:30. At least I got seven hours of sleep, only interrupted a handful of times by Samson asking if he could have extra computer time and Caleb saying, “Mom, get up! The sun’s up!”
No, I’m really not suggesting that this is progress…
I’m up an hour and a half before the usual time and I got to bed almost an hour earlier than usual, so I AM going to call that something. 🙂 Progress is relative, right?
I am so happy now that I go to bed early and rise early as the prophet has counseled. My day goes much more smoothly and I get everything done that needs to be done. I am grateful that my body is so healthy and strong and enjoys this ‘early to bed’ sleep cycle! 🙂 (I love working on new things! I’ll keep working at it)
I think Sharilee’s doing public affirmations. Don’t mind her. 🙂
You are sooo quick! 🙂
Molly and I are the last two online tonight. That is sooooo pathetic!
FWIW, I’ve actually been to bed by 11:30 the past two nights. I’ve just gotten really tired by then. It’s not 10:30 yet, but the truth is my heart wasn’t in when I said 10:30, and I have found the ‘feeling’ is the leading factor. Maybe I should be honest with myself and say 11:30. That’s what feels right. Can 11:30 be considered ‘early’?
Anyway– the day really does go more smoothly. Perhaps the fact that it’s summer contributes to that as well! Of course, my summer won’t really start until I get through the Bear Lake Retreat. One week from today I will be officially into summer full swing. Hooray!
Totally.
Can 11:30 be considered ‘early’?
Ha. The day I make that time on a consistent basis is the day I take all you ladies out for dinner (or at least a candy bar — I’m cheap). 🙂
OK, Molly. I’m going to bed and it’s ONLY 12:18. That means I should be asleep within the next two hours…
I just want everyone to know you were in my thoughts as I turned out the lights the other night before 12:30. It did take me till past 2 am to get to sleep, but that was nearly a record for me.
Of course, I undid it all last nite. But there’s always tonite, right? 🙂
Okay– this might sound unbelievable, but I actually have been absolutely exhausted by 11:30 every night! I’m not sure that the week to start this was when I was in charge of a large group of youth who weren’t ready to go to bed by 11:30, but it worked out just fine! Thanks for the motivation, Molly. My days really are going better, and it’s not ONLY because I have started the morning off seeing the incredible sunrise over Bear Lake. Early to bed, early to rise is really working for me–
I’ve been trying to get up earlier, and I’ve been making it up by 7:30 to 7:45. Which is quite good for me! 🙂 I’ve also been jogging in the morning (a whopping 1 mile, any further and I’ll drop dead, I’m no marathoner like Alison, that’s for sure. I’m practicing for the 1 mile freedom run w/ my sis.) Anyway, “all” that jogging has seemed to make me incredibly tired at nights. In fact, I’m incredibly tired now at the early hour of 10:48, but I CAN’T go to bed, wah! I have to wait up for dd to come home from the movie! I’ve been making it to bed pre-midnight every night except once the last two weeks (yes, I consider that early, too!) I’d probably have even gone to bed earlier if I didn’t have to finish editing my book. Which really makes me ask the question of why I’m on MM rather than editing it now since it’s not done. Ah well, gotta take a break every once in a while, right?
Congrats! I have also been getting really tired by 11:30. I wish it was because I was running in the morning– but alas. I actually feel like I’m losing half my day going to bed so early, but I’ll get over that.
What book are you editing?
Yay, DD came home, i can go to bed! 🙂 Anyway, I’ve only been running for about 10 minutes three days a week. Seems so wimpy, lol!
I’m editing my book on teaching math. I’ve gotta speak at the homeschool convention in a mere 9 days, and it’d be nice if I actually had my book ready to display there! Nothing like waiting till the last minute. The problem I get is that I feel like I don’t have the depth of knowledge that I should because I’m still learning. Yet we’re always learning, right? So if I wait till I have all the knowledge, I’ll never write the book! At any rate, I hope the book should still be helpful to those who haven’t looked at the best methods for teaching math.
That’s Awesome!! My 9-year-old learned how to do roots and exponentials in 2nd grade because his mother (me!) was taking a college math course at the time. He decided then and there that he was a math genius and now he spends all of his free time practicing math. It’s pretty funny– but he definitely proves we are whatever we believe we are. I would say he didn’t get his math genius from me, but in this case he actually did– from me studying my heart out to pass basic algebra! I am really good with basic math– it’s when you hit algebra I have to study inordinate amounts of time just to pull my A!
Good luck at the conference! I may be down there. I’m going to have to come track you and Alison down if I end up being there. It was actually from the UHSA website that I found Alison’s name. I was looking through the workshops being offered and saw that she was teaching. Alison Moore Smith is a pretty distinctive name– I knew it was her!! 🙂 And, oh so glad!
Now maybe someone can explain why Molly LOOKS like she runs marathons and I LOOK like I’m running 10 minutes a day?!!
I went to bed before midnight last night. Applause, please. Don’t know how I fell asleep. Then I got up at 7:00, as usual. I’ll try it again…maybe. I do feel better.
Yes, do look us up if you come, Sharilee!
LOL Alison, I actually don’t have a good answer to that one. 🙂 I’ve never even run more than 1.5 miles all at once in my life (and when I get that far, I pretty much feel like dying! Guess I must have terrible lung capacity or something.)
And lastly, it’s 4 minutes before midnight, and I shall now go to bed. I am following your example, Alison – you go girl!
Well my little 4 mo.old buttercup has woken me up from MY “prophetic” sleep. Time to nurse …so…. I will just ressurect this hilarious blog about sleeping while I multitask the feeding and typing. Well folks, I can honestly say that I DID go to bed early and I DID rise early rountinely until I joined this website! It took just one week before I joined the great multitude of “night owls” on this site. I know… I’m weak. Your all such a bad influence! Anyways, did any of you “beat the almighty sleep?” I read all comments here and I laughed out loud until my Husband jumped out of bed tonight wondering what in the world I was doing. I just grinned and said,” I’m now an official “Mormon Momma!” That was one blank look he gave me! Well, little buttercup fell back to sleep. I must return to my slumber as well. Oh! Who met this goal? Now I’m going to have to join the ranks!
I’d have to go to bed before 2:45 to do very well with this. But I never sleep in very much because the boys wake up at the crack of dawn. This morning Samson woke me up at 5:55. How late do you have to get up to have “slept in”?
Alison,
Wow! How in the world?..How do you function each day on that kind of sleep? You must be superwoman. I envy you.
I also have to get up around 5:30 to see my husband off to work. I’ll make his breakfast, ( and pack his lunch ) sometimes I’ll iron his shirt if I didn’t get it done the night before and make sure he’s out of here on time. I use to get up at 4:30 when he was working 4/10’s. Now he works 5/8’s.
Anyways, I gotta admit that I tried last week to make it on only four or five hours of sleep (ya know since I joined this website extravaganza!). I was edgy, frustrated with myself and my little ones. But still loved the blogging!
Hey, you may find this interresting…. you know , if I do not get at least 6-8 hours of sleep, I’ll gain about three or four pounds! If I get my full sleep, I can shed a few pounds. For some reason, good sleep helps my metabolism. Now that doesn’t mean sleep for six days and lose 100 pounds! Too much sleep also makes me gain weight. That becomes a great incentive for me to go to bed early. :bigsmile:
I also notice that as a nursing mother, my milk supply is way healthy and my babies have not been fussy. ( La Leche’ group research . I can site it if you like! Really works)
Well once again it’s late. I need to go to bed:wink:
An ideal time for me to sleep in would be .. oh… 7 maybe 8. But my little chickidies have the cock-a-doodle-do’s at 6:30. Gotta love em
So smart, Heather, to know your body and listen to it. Kudos to you!!
It’s funny that everything thinks I must be “different” because I get no sleep and still function. I’m not. Honest. I don’t have a choice but to function. If I could get my body to go to sleep (non-chemically) at a reasonable time, I would. And if I could sleep in enough to GET a real night’s sleep, I’d do that, too.
I did go to bed at 1:00 this morning. Caleb slept in (!!!!!), probably because we were up so late doing holiday stuff. Sam just got up and took care of stuff for me, so I didn’t wake up until 8:30. Amazing having so much sleep!
I’m throwing a big party for my choir girls from 7-11 tonight, so it won’t be a really early tonight, either. 🙂
Hey ya know, summer time is all about the parties. Staying up late for things like that only “nurtures” a happy spirit! (A good natured kind of party that is)
I don’t have a choice but to function.
Well, your body could actually change that for you. Ask me how I know that. 🙂 (Thankfully, my functioning level has been better as of late, but there are times….)
Sleep issues are sooo very hard. Ask me how I know that, too. 🙂