BEAUTY SLEEP

First, let me begin by noting that I still miss cheese. So much. Now on to our regularly scheduled programming.

How many hours of sleep do you average on a weeknight? Do you feel like it's enough? I'm guessing nobody ever thinks they get enough sleep, and they're probably right.

The second WLC Two-Week Lifestyle Challenge is to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. (The first was to drink Lake Erie every day. Slight exaggeration, but that's what it felt like...). So, we don't have to do the whole 7 hours at night, but we need to make up the difference with a nap before WLC point-logging closes at 9 pm.

In theory, I like this challenge, because who doesn't love sleep? I certainly like it better than the water challenge. While I understand the point of emphasizing hydration - which, like sleep, is something people don't do enough of - I found the amount of water to be consumed was annoying. I don't like feeling like I have to pee in the middle of a yoga class. If I can't get through an hour workout without being very aware of my bladder, then it's just way too much water.

Sometimes, Cat On Head is
 the reason I don't sleep.

So, yay sleep! BUT. Something awesome always has a "but."  Seven hours of sleep for a busy working mother - and probably for most people - is actually pretty hard to accomplish. Example: we got home from a rock show at about half past midnight on Monday (...what? All good parents let their kids lose sleep on a school night to see rock shows. There are many kinds of learning in life...). My time between leaving work and leaving for the show was barely enough to get a meal into everyone, so I stayed up a little longer when we got home to throw in the load of laundry that I didn't get to over the weekend. I get up every morning at 6, so that night was a five-hour sleep night. I didn't make up those two hours on Tuesday before 9, because after work there was kid-shuttling for band practice, a necessary stop at the grocery, more laundry, dinner, cleaning the kitchen, more laundry and then it was almost 9 pm and I had to log my points. No two hour nap. As lovely as the idea of a nap seems, it's just not a possibility for me on most days.

Even without a rock show, 5 hours is often a typical night of sleep for me. Less if my mind is racing. Busy mothers? Can you relate? How often is 2 am the time that you lie awake making lists of things that need doing the next day? Composing a work email in your head that has to be sent as soon as you log in? Wondering if your son is actually prepared for his AP tests or just says he is so you don't bother him about it? Dissecting your daughter's description of a recent social interaction? Trying to decide what's for dinner the next day and wondering if you have the ingredients to make it? Feeling irritated that the next season of Downton Abbey doesn't start for months and months? (Okay, I don't really lose sleep over that last one, but COME ON.)

The Dowager Countess, just because.

My guess is she doesn't sleep much.

Too many lives to micro-manage.

I love her.

Just to be clear - I will always, ALWAYS prioritize a good rock show over a good night's sleep. There are some moments in life when the saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead" feels like the right frame of mind. Some experiences are not to be missed, some chances will never come again. 

That said, I do know I should prioritize sleep over some other things... for instance, I don't need to read Sandman comics until 1 a.m. I don't need to check work email "one last time" at midnight (which always leads to working for about an hour), I don't need to stay up late blogging ;-)  Honestly, I don't need to do a lot of things that can truly wait until the next day or even for the weekend. And I do realize that a little bit of unreasonable anxiety gets in the way of prioritizing sleep - I can sometimes get completely wigged out over leaving something undone once it occurs to me it needs doing. Silliness.

But the biggest problem is the fact that I love my night owl hours. I love that time at night when there isn't actually anything that needs to be done, when the kids are in bed, the house is in a relative state of order, I know I've taken care of the things I need to be ready for the next day, and the nighttime is all mine. That time feels precious and perfect, and sleeping is the last thing that occurs to me. I know other (most?) people would be all over devoting that time to sleep. And - despite my devotion to Night Owl Life - I know I should, too. Because being a night owl is probably messing me up. 

There are many studies emerging about the negative impact that too little sleep has on our minds and on our bodies. This is Sleep Awareness Week, so there happen to be an abundance of related news stories at the moment. The topic was covered in the March issue of Experience Life, a health and fitness magazine published by Lifetime Fitness. The article notes that lack of sleep can lead to high blood pressure, weight gain, vision loss, hearing loss, hair loss, heart disease -- the list goes on. Skimping on sleep doesn't just make you tired. It can actually kill you. 

Okay - toning down the drama a little... I don't think I'm so sleep-deprived that I'm risking high blood pressure or heart disease, but I'm not doing myself any favors. It's probably impacting my memory, my overall mood during the day (ok, it's possible that's just Russian grumpiness), my athletic endurance. I would probably notice some dramatic changes with a little more sleep in my life, so I'm going to try. Starting tonight. 7 hours, minimum. 

(Maybe. Checking which bands are playing first...)