Rest for the Weary

Has anyone else noticed how sleep is so underrated in our culture? Or is it simply a sign that I am getting older?

I used to function fairly well on little sleep, not that I didn't need it. It was always hard to get out of bed when I was going to school as a child. My parents were a little more relaxed on bedtimes, especially once we got into high school. What memories I have of Mom calling me several times to get up, and I would fall back asleep and dream that I HAD gotten up and was getting myself ready to go. I didn't realize that it was too easy to be for real, and Mom wasn't any too happy when she came up the stairs for the umpteenth time to hear my muffled response from my half-asleep state. " But Mom, I already AM up!" Imagine my shock when I opened my eyes to see that I was still in my bed, and the school bus was due any minute.

Fast forward to my own mothering. I too am relaxed on the waking of my children. In short, if I don't absolutely have to wake them up, I don't! And I have tried to teach them to be quiet in the mornings, so others who are still asleep can stay that way as long as needed. That is yet one more grand benefit of homeschooling. I LOVE not being beholden to the schools' schedule.

This is not to say that my children "sleep in" or that they struggle to get out of bed in the morning-- they don't. Early on, patterning our family's routine around my husband's early-rising habits, and appreciating quiet evenings, we have always had the children go to bed at 7 pm. In fact, we have had 6 pm as a regular bedtime for a child or two going through a stage between needing the afternoon nap and making it all the way to bedtime. And even then, the children wouldn't rise till 6 am, sometimes not till 6:30 or 7.

The biggest challenge, when it comes to sleep and wake times, is ME. The work is never done, and there is never enough time in the day to connect as a married couple, so we end up staying up too late. Then my early riser husband still jumps out of bed at 5 am, ready to start the day, and I have to drag myself to the shower to wake up enough to manage to get dressed and join the family at the breakfast table. Often, they are already cleaning up.

So what's the point of all this? Only to say that I notice a marked decrease in tension now that we have accepted that I need my sleep, so if we choose not to go to bed early enough, then I won't be up with everyone else for breakfast. I don't like it, but it's a hard thing to change. To do any better, given that the rest of the family is always up and going by 6:30 at the latest, means I would have to consistently get to sleep early enough to adjust my own sleep rhythm.

Don't see that happening.

I have been told by a wise friend that sleep is important, so her family made it a priority. And so have we. What a difference it makes not to guilt oneself about yet one. more. thing.