For most of my life, I have craved sleep.

I cannot remember a time when I have sprung out of bed.

When I was a teen, I can remember my mother dragging my feet out of bed, so that I was half-on the bed and half-off. I could continue to sleep that way just fine.

When we were newlyweds, my husband would try to kiss me awake. My mouth would try to say leave me alone and let me sleep, but my groggy head and limp body continued to doze on. Sometimes the smell of fresh coffee would bring me to my senses. Then the kisses were welcome and exchanged.

As a young mother, I never rose before my children. I always waited until I had to get up. That was usually when my husband Todd was leaving for work and the kids were up and raring to go. I simply couldn’t stay in bed any longer.

Then something changed.

I turned 40.

I couldn’t sleep well any more.My sleep pattern changed. I began staying up later to spend time with my teens, who were busy most of the day. We watched detective shows or period dramas on TV together. I began staying up until 11 or 12, hoping I would be tired by the time my head hit the pillow.

I could usually fall asleep alright (unless the show was sad or disturbing). But then I would be wide awake at 3am and my mind wouldn’t begin to settle back into sleep until 6am, as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon and through the window.

Exhausted, I would fall back to sleep while Todd took over my morning duties with the family, as he now worked from home. I would sleep until 8:30 or 9:00, stumble out of my room exhausted and cranky and do my best to be a good mom and teacher as we began our school day.

This has been my sleep life for 4+ years.

Then something changed.

I became a morning person.

I am now getting 7-8 hours of good, solid sleep each night, waking refreshed and getting a whole lot more accomplished before I even see a child’s head peek around the corner. It feels great! I’ll tell you all about it in my next post.

Question: Are you a morning person or a night owl and do you like it that way?

 

(Click here to read part 2!)

Posted in: Health, Lifestyle, Parenting

Tags: early riser, morning person, productivity, sleep

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2013 at 11:13 am and is filed under Health, Lifestyle, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.