Monday, November 7, 2011

life's cruel joke

why is it that when you don't have children, you don't fully appreciate that one extra hour of sleep that you get for falling back on daylight savings?

then, when you do have children, and you actually need every morsel of sleep that you can get, your sweet little monkeys don't take advantage of the extra sleep, but instead wake up at the crack of dawn, stealing your one opportunity to get a bit of rest?

i have no answer for you, my friends, other than the fact that two children were in my bed wide awake and ready to take on the day when it was still very, very early.

this is a totally unrelated photo except that
 a.i think it is hilarious when ruby sleeps like this and 
b. this is what i *wish* ruby was doing in the wee hours.
sleeping. 
like human beings should do when it is dark and early.  
(i didn't notice until i posted this picture that as usual, m is trying to wake her sister up)
if you think i'm being dramatic when it comes to moms and sleep, read this great article from the new york times yesterday about how many women suffer from insomnia and sleep issues. i may not take sleep aids to help me sleep, but a lot of that article ran true for me.

"One of the cruel jokes of motherhood is that the sleeplessness of pregnancy, followed by the sleeplessness generated by an infant (a period in which a staggering — truly — 84 percent of women experience insomnia), is not followed by a makeup period of rest. It is merely the setup for what can become a permanent modus operandi."


sound familiar?


so for all of you without kids, please for the love of those of us that are perpetually sleep starved,  soak up and appreciate the fact that your alarm clock is an inanimate object that you can turn off with the touch of a button and not a noisy little person that won't take "five more minutes" for an answer.

and for those of you who are also suddenly taking on the day much earlier than usual thanks to daylight savings (i cite as an example the text message i got at 4:59 am and email at 6:04 am from moms), you have my sympathies.

9 comments:

  1. We got double teamed this year with our (not so) good friend hand foot & mouth disease causing multiple night waking/nursings for the baby, then, wham!, (almost) 3 year old up >1 hour early. Ugh.

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  2. daylight savings is the lamest invention ever. and i should have called you at 4:59am to tell you that in person.

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  3. Daylight Savings Time is definitely a practical joke on mothers! I suppose the only solace is that in a few years we'll be dragging teenagers out of bed!

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  4. boo on hand foot and mouth. that situation is bad enough on its own, much less with daylight savings!

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  5. Thank you for your hand foot and mouth sympathies. I am just thankful that only Jack has it, and that he is young enough that he is only sad and cuddly rather than sad and tantrum-y like his brother who had it in toddlerhood.

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  6. it has swept through our house twice (once with matt getting it- which = no fun by the way) so i totally commiserate!

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  7. i needed to come back to this post and say not only does daylight savings suck, but so does the day after daylight savings...when my toddler woke up at 4am this morning. are you serious? yes i am.

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  8. RIDIC. no one should be awake at 4 am. unless you are matt lauer or a garbageman.

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  9. or a social worker in the er. but i digress, i hope the littles get their sleep shit together soon. for the love of all that is reasonable...

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