- I’ve always been a night owl, but now that I’m a parent I need to start going to bed earlier.
- I feel happier and a better parent when I get to sleep more.
- My only time alone is between when my kids go to bed and me going to bed.
For all the complaining I’ve done about my children and their not-so-great sleep patterns — using extreme delay tactics, needing me to lay with them for hours, waking up early even when they go to bed late — it turns out my bedtime skills are even worse. I should complain about my sleep patterns more than they do.
I’ve always been a night owl, but my desire to stay up late intensified after I became a mother. After all the caring, worrying, and entertaining that I do for others, my post-bedtime hours are my time to shine. It was my time for me to shine.
Since the pandemic, my husband, children, and I have been supporting one another every day. My late nights became even later, my daytime energy even more depleted. I found myself with little to no time for myself during the day and with a negative outlook on myself at night.
Some days I feel like I cannot breathe, because so many people seem to need me. I compensate by sleeping until the wee hours of morning, when I see the clock and realize that it is past 1 a.m. I then fall into panic-sleep mode.
It’s not good for sleep to have a late night due to procrastination and revenge. Although I know my choices aren’t the best, it’s been hard to give up.
I feel guilty when I finally get up from my child’s bed at 8:15 am to clean the bathroom and kitchen. I don’t have any time for me during the day. There’s no time to recharge or relax.
My revenge bedtime procrastination, or bedtime procrastination, is when I have all the things that I want to do but don’t have the time.
Sleep is so important for my parenting
Recently, after unintentionally falling asleep in my daughter’s bed at 8 p.m. and feeling much more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning, I was reminded why this whole sleep thing is so important.
I feel less anxious when my sleep time exceeds five or six hours per night. I am more patient with my children. I am more likely to move and make healthier choices. I am reducing my cortisol levels and focusing on stress-free living.
I am a happier person when I get to sleep more each night. These are the things I choose over instant gratification like 5,000 TikToks per night.
In the eight years that I have been parenting, I’ve come to realize how much I have lost in caring for myself. I don’t need to hear anyone tell me that it’s bedtime, like I do for my children. I am the one who must tell myself it is time to go to sleep. I need to stop complaining and change my bad habits. Here I am.