It's amazing how tired I feel when the kids wake me out of the middle of REM sleep. Somehow my brain never fully gets going and I spend the whole day wishing I could somehow go back to bed and finish the last 45 minutes of the sleep cycle I missed.
That's what happened yesterday. Through all of the trauma with Curly's foot I felt like I was propping my eyelids up to keep them open. During the evening when she went to her violin concert and Mister and I went to a friend's baby shower, I just wanted to lie down on the sofa. At last, when bedtime came I dropped off to sleep so fast I'm sure I missed almost all of the chapter Hubby was reading aloud to me.
This morning, on the other hand, I woke up before anyone else. The kids had been up late so they slept in a little more than usual and I was able to sleep until I woke up on my own. Although the weather outside was snowing (!) I felt as though someone turned on the sunshine. I felt alert, rested, and remembered how when I was young I had been a morning person.
Curly tried taking her splint off and walking around until she discovered that her foot still really hurts. So it was back on with the splint for her. But I got both kids dressed and fed, then met some friends at the mall to go for a walk. Between the four moms we had seven children and with our succession of strollers the other elderly mall-walkers started calling us "The Parade." All morning I could not believe the energy level I sustained, just from waking up naturally.
Tonight I think I'll go to bed early again and possibly keep the kids up a little later than usual just to see if I can duplicate the wonderful effect of feeling rested in the morning.
I hear you! I hated waking up to Ethan by my bedside demanding milk or something. That's why I instituted the 6:30 rule. He's not allowed out of his room until 6:30 (we lock him in so he doesn't start anymore fires). It's worked really well. Of course, the little one wakes me up whenever, but she's been sleeping through the night, so if she wakes up at 5am, I'm just so thankful that I got to sleep from 10pm to 5am.
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