My baby is 11 weeks old now and lack of sleep is common. It’s better than it was the first couple of weeks, but it’s still there. The heavy eyelids, aching muscles, weary head, and the desire to just lie down all the time.
This weekend my husband was out of town for two days, and I had both kids by myself. It was a lot of work and I was tired. This is nothing new though. One of our friends offered to have my son over for a playdate one afternoon. The baby, miraculously, took a nap and so did I. That 1 1/2 hours of sleep made all the difference for me. I felt refreshed and rejuvenated.
Later that evening I broke one of my favorite plates – my grandmother’s french china, decorative plate that I only have two of — both hang on my kitchen wall. Well, only one does now. I accidentally knocked one off and it smashed into bits on the tile floor. For some reason, I was OK with this disaster. I quickly got a broom and dustpan and swept the pieces of my childhood up. I moved on to taking care of the kids and the rest of my evening in peace.
Had I not had that nap earlier in the day I know I would have lost if when that plate broke. It would have thrown me over the edge causing my stress-level to elevate even more. Beacause I was rested, I was able to deal with it and move on quickly.
Having a baby isn’t the only time we loose sleep. I think American’s don’t get enough sleep as it is, not just when we add babies, kids, work, school, extra activities to our already oversheculde lives. Think of how much better you could handle situations if you had more sleep. Tonight, try to get to bed early and see if it makes for a better tomorrow.
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.
Yvonne says
Stress from lack of sleep is so true. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in about 5 years. I have a 15 month old that still does not sleep through the night. Thankfully, my 4 year old can sleep about 12 hours straight, so I only have one to take care of. Most of my days I’m tired and sluggish feeling. Sometimes I think back to what it was like before kids and I can’t quite remember it (not that I would ever trade – my girls are so precious). I’m hoping for some better sleep in the near future.
Sara says
no, american’s don’t sleep enough! when i was studying in spain, the 3 hour siesta blcok every day was the best. seriously, the whole country shut down from 12-4 and people just rested. marvelous. 🙂
Melissa says
I remember the days when Nate was like that. The sleep deprivation was horrendous! So horrendous that a nap of 45 minutes made me feel like I had slept for 8 hours!
BTW, I don’t know that I have ever told you this, but I love reading your blog and am so glad that I found it.
Slopez says
Is it too late to save the pieces for a mosaic — that’s good for a trivet or something small. I wish I would have thought to save the pieces when my grandma’s candy dish broke…..
Yes, sleep is the key to ALL!! I’m always telling Mandy (15) to get more sleep — this weekend she went to bed at 6:30 in the evening and didn’t wake up until 6:00 the next morning — she was feeling yucky, and wouldn’t just “give in” to what her body was telling her. Isn’t it funny that as adults we don’t have that luxury of being told to go to bed!
Jean Lewis says
I applaud you for your web site! I was a very young mother of three children in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Back then, we didn’t have this connection on the internet with others experiencing similar circumstances. Most of us did not work and there was very little opportunity to intermingle like this.
Women of my age group suffered from the lack of communication about childhood problems, lack of sleep, and all those normal things young parents experience.
Now, through enlightening blogs such as yours, other mothers can share their experiences and it most likely lightens their loads.
Cudos to you Alicia.