Usually, I go to sleep around midnight. I function (and look) better when I crash earlier but staying up till 12 (sometimes 1) is the only way I can finish up stuff. I wake up at around 7, along with Max who is still making his way to our bed in the middle of the night (DON'T GET ME STARTED).
Most days, I'm fine; I have good energy, and it's got nothing to do with eating right or exercising a lot because I am sorely lacking in both areas. Sometimes, though, the sleep deprivation hits me and I fantasize about hiding in our attic—where we have a full bed—and sleeping for the whole day. This is the stuff my fantasies are made of these days.
What I usually do when I'm zonked:
1. Power through because there's another load of laundry to do and food to prepare and forms to fill out and YOU KNOW.
2. Have my second iced-coffee of the day. Or third. Or fourth.
3. Get grumpy and irrational with Dave.
4. Torture myself by looking at the lines under my eyes in natural lighting.
5. Watch "talking" cat videos on YouTube, the sort of thing you most appreciate when you are deliriously tired.
6. Or just sit on the couch and stare vacantly into space, although inevitably I'll notice something that needs cleaning like the hoard of crumbs in between the sofa cushions.
7. Crave tuna melts.
8. Run really cold water over my wrists; there are pulse points there and it perks you up. Studies have shown that actually getting sleep perks you up, too.
9. Check the pantry to see if somebody maybe bought chocolate. Nope.
10. Buy random kitchen gadgets from Amazon.com that I will use approximately once every ten years, like an avocado slicer.
11. Make lists.
What time do you usually go to sleep? And what do you do when you're really tired?
OMG pls tell me how you get your kids to sleep till 7am. My younger one (now 5) has been up at 5:15am his entire life and yes we've tried everything (too tired to list the "fixes" here). I sleep 11:30pm-5:15am. Off to drink my 1st diet coke!
ReplyDeleteHAHA - Great list! I drink several cups of coffee a day.
ReplyDeleteI usually go to sleep between 10:30 - 12. But I'm up by 5:30. And Norrin is usually found in my bed.
I wish I could say I'm doing something productive but nope - I'm watching bad television. Or the Food Network, which late at night is a bad bad idea.
I'm usually thinking of the things I wish OTHER people would do for me...like worry about IEPs, rearrange their schedule to accommodate PT or dr's appts or teacher meetings ETC., cook, etc. The rest of the time I'm brainstorming new inventions that might help Elena, or activities that she could do with a friend. Or I try really, really hard to dream of myself as MacGyver of the SN Mom Life. Or dream of Karl Urban.
ReplyDeletemy kids are all early risers. i used to stay up late to enjoy the quiet house but now i'm an early sleeper, go to bed by 11 up between 5-6 depending on what time the cutest alarm clocks ever decide to go off! (note: the later they get up the cuter they get)
ReplyDeleteI generally get to sleep around 9:30pm and am up around 7am and while, yes, this is a crapton of sleep the thing is......Before kids I went to bed at 9pm and woke up around 9am and took a 2 hour nap from 4pm-6pm. Yeah, I wish I still got that kind of sleep.
ReplyDeleteLoved the post!! I know I don't function well with less than 7 hrs of sleep but I still stay up late reading blogs, researching, emailing, etc. I need parental controls to switch off my internet as soon as Nora goes to sleep so that I can get enough sleep.
ReplyDeleteI chug Diet Dr.Pepper. Right now I am caught between the desire to get some me time and sleep. My baby is going on a nap strike while waking up crazy early in the morning. My fantasy vacation would be me all alone in a hotel room so I could sleep as much as I wanted.
ReplyDeleteI count backward in 3's from 300 it really helps me fell asleep I recommend it to anyone struggling to fell asleep.
ReplyDeleteUsually go to bed at 11:30...up at 7ish. When I'm tired I hit the diet pepsi. And I inhale any sugar in my vicinity, so I TRY, not to keep it in the house.
ReplyDeleteusually fall asleep exhausted at 830 on the sofa bed when Chelsea goes to sleep and then around 2 am I start prowling around - eating chips and cookies and chugging huge glasses of Diet Coke. Then I write long soul searching missives for my blog that I never post or watch trashy TV. Up at 5 and it all starts again. Sleep deprived 14 years and counting...Sandra X
ReplyDeleteI always read your post!! You are so funny and inspirational!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCoffee and chocolate are great. I too look to see if anyone bought some...unfortunatley so does the rest of my family..(I am the buyer and they know my stash spots!!)
Amazon is great..my solution I put stuff in the shopping cart, let it sit and delete it after a few months!!!! Instant gratification with no expense!
I never get grumpy or irrational with my husband.... HA!!!!
well keep on rockin'! You are great!!!
Liz Tree
I sleep when I can. Sometimes I have to work night shift so I never know from week to week what my schedule will be. If I am too tired to fall asleep I take a benadryl--it knocks me out and dampens down my allergies--two features in one! You know how much I love Amazon, I am the queen of online shopping because I don't have time to go to the stores half the time!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a teenager and I have trouble sleeping and I'm exhausted right now I need more advice
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at the hours people on this blog keep. In bed at 11.30pm and up at 6am!! When I am tired - like right now - I try to eat something healthy. I just had fresh pineapple and now will have a glass of water with 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne powder. Cayenne water is really good for you. I will have a few vitamin pills, do some skin brushing, brush my teeth, (new sheets on the bed help too but not tonight)then I will have a glass of slippery elm and do some stretching, have a shower, then go to sleep. That is the plan, anyway. Too often I am too tired to do that. But it pays off; the next day I feel better. Vitamin B tablets help me dream and that gives me that extra something. It is like going to the movies in the middle of the week. And to sleep well, I keep telling myself "Tomorrow will be a really good day, tomorrow will be a really good day, tomorrow...".
ReplyDeleteAs of writing this comment, it is 3:5AM and I googled "What to do when you are tired"...I think I google weird stuff and am easily amused when my eyes feel like they are going to fall out.
ReplyDeleteYeah....I work nights because my husband and I work opposite shifts to keep our kids out of daycare. So I get off work at 12:30, try as hard as I can to fall asleep by 2am, then get up at 7:30am to get my son to school and am up with my youngest for the rest of the day. My intention going to this blog was to find something to do WITH my daughter besides sticking her in front of the TV all day while I zone out.....
ReplyDeleteI'm exhausted. I work 12 hour night shifts. At 8am when I finish work, I get in my car, I go home, I load the car with my partner and son, and I take them both straight back out to work/ school before I can go back home again, to wash, eat and sleep for approximately 4 hours until I have to get up to do the school run, get home AGAIN, cook diner, clean / tidy, and everything else in between ( food shopping, organising things, appointments, everything really )
ReplyDeleteIt's currently 02:30 am and I haven't managed to have a nap on my lunch at work. I'm so angry I'm literally crying at my desk and wrapped in a scarf.
On my nights/ days off, I continue to do the laundry, shopping, cooking, driving, housekeeping, car cleaning, organising and everything that you can possibly think of. I have a partner but I do absolutely EVERYTHING include get him to work, he makes his own way home and sometimes helps with the dishes.
People think I'm daft for not expecting him to do anything around the house but I think of it as - I can get it done quickly and properly so sit down and just let me crack on. I'm tired but once I've done it I can relax, too.
That then doesn't help however when It comes to wanting quality time with him and my son. Usually my first night off is spent having an early night but that's the only night I get to do that as I don't want to miss out on family time on other nights. So once every 8 nights I have an early night. And by early I mean about 8/9pm and I still wake at 6:30am for the next day's antics.
I can't remember the last time ( I think It was april and It's now Febuary!) where my son was watched so my partner and I could go for a meal and spend some time together as a couple.
It annoys me when people have family all around them and friends to help watch the baby or their husbands work and do everything else for them so they don't have to, and I'm sat writing an essay that no one will care about because I'm tired and need some decent sleep. Not jealousy by any means, I'd hate to have a life were I rely on my partner for everything and I do f*ck all for myself or my child financially, however, it's a kick in the face .
Period.
Oh and when I'm tired and can't sleep, I do stuff like this! haha :) x