A new mother (of two months) said to me recently, “I can’t wait until I get some sleep.”
All I could do is chuckle to myself. It will be years before she regains rest!
When you have kids, you kiss sleep goodbye. People I work with say I’m an early bird and the truth is I’m a night owl. Unfortunately, being a night owl and having kids doesn’t work well.
When they are tiny they need feeding. I’m all for breastfeeding, as it gave me more sleep. My poor wife, however, was not as fortunate.
As the kids get older, they start waking you up…to spend time with them. While it conflicts with sleep, I found this to be one of the nicer times with the kids….watching cartoons in bed.
As they reach school age, school and weekend activities drive the schedule. Going out on a “school night” takes on a whole different meaning…it begins to mean something to parents, too.
Middle school brings activities to a whole new level. Plays, clubs, sports…all combine into a time sucking, sleep depriving time.
Once they reach driving age, you might think sleep returns. To the contrary…the kids are out on the road and you can’t sleep until they return home. You have to keep one ear open to make sure they are home safely. This behavior is irrational; if something terrible were to happen being awake wouldn’t prevent it. Yet most parents do this.
When they go to college, “out of sight, out of mind” comes into play. Sleep patterns do slowly return.
Of course, these patterns are interrupted when they come home from college, as the dog will bark, they garage door opener will wake you, etc. The kids are not doing anything wrong; it’s just the noises of the house wake you up.
This is why I contend older people sleep so much. They are making up for lost sleep time.
What are your experiences?