The mom with the earliest bedtime
“Do you sleep?”
I get asked that question a lot, either incredulously or jokingly, after I’ve talked about a recent slew of DIY projects or work commitments.
Not only do I sleep, but I go to bed earlier than any adult I know.
It used to feel lame, but now I’m proud to admit that. There is something nerdily confident about knowing you are getting a damn good night’s sleep — nine full hours, usually.
It wasn’t always like this, of course. Even a couple of years ago, I used to put off going to sleep because I wanted to soak up every minute of “me time.” I would stay up far later than I should to watch one more show, read one more chapter or just spend more time absentmindedly scrolling through Pinterest “because I could.”
Things changed when our eldest started Primary two years ago and we all had to wake up much earlier than we ever had before. After suffering through several cranky weeks, I decided it was worth sacrificing a bit of “me time” in order to feel like a functional human the next day.
So what’s the magic number? During the school year, I make sure I have my light out by 9 p.m. We need to get up by 6:30 a.m. (and it may be earlier this year, since I’ll have two kids to get ready) and I like to get nine full hours of shut-eye.
During the summer, the kids have been staying up later (and getting up slightly later) so I’ve pushed by bedtime to 10 p.m. and my wake-up time to seven or 7:30 a.m. Hopefully it won’t be hard to push it back when school starts up again, but I’m sure those first few mornings at the bus stop will be sleepy ones for everyone.
Many of my friends don’t understand my weirdo early bedtime, or profess they could never do it themselves …
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Heather's Handmade Life 