I’ve written about getting kids to go to sleep — and sleep through the night, but what about the parents? I have no problem getting to sleep, but it seems I’m finding it hard to get a solid nights’ rest. I think we finally got my son back on track (I’ll have to write a separate post about how I did that), but now there are other things waking me up at night.
Sometimes it’s one of our pets — the cats are in the way on the bed, the dog needs to go outside, or it’s the neighbor’s dogs who are barking at something.
When I was working full-time I’d wake up in the middle of the night worrying about a project I was working on or a presentation I had to give. Sometimes it was stress waking me up, other times it was the excitement of the project. I do some of my best thinking at night.
I’ve learned to keep a notebook and pen on my nightstand for those middle of the night ideas. I wake up in the morning with something barely legible next to me, then I recall my great idea. The times I thought I would remember it on my own, I never did. Not only does writing it down help me remember, but it gets the idea out of my head so I can go back to sleep. I just wish that worked with the other distractions that keep me awake.
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ABOUT ALICIA: Alicia is the founder of Balancing Motherhood.com. Last year, she managed to stay sane while completing an MBA, working full-time, blogging, and still baking amazing birthday cakes — all while raising a young family at home.
Sarah Zeldman says
Yeah, people think that mothers only lose sleep when they have an newborn. HA!
I found that learning how to take a proper powernap has really helped when I don’t get enough rest. You can see my entry about it here: http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/blog/2007/8/27/how-to-survive-when-your-baby-or-child-doesnt-sleep-well.html