Sacred Sleep

I have come to realize over the years that sleeping is something I am passionate about. I know it sounds a little weird but in reality I spend a lot of time planning out sleep such as: when the kids will go to bed if we are out and about, how I will plan the nap schedule into a particularly busy day, how I can get Iyov to sleep more quickly, when he will go to sleep, how long he has been awake, how long the other two kids have been awake, counting how many hours of sleep I got the night before, how long each child's nap was, worrying when the kids don't get their naps, worrying that the naps will be too late, worrying that Brad isn't sleeping enough, and on and on. I realize now on virtual paper that I sound a bit obsessive but I think I have an appreciation for sleep that most people don't. I wrote a really excellent research paper in highschool on sleep and I wish I had it now to reference all of my fun facts but alas, it probably went in the trash years ago.

Anyway, for me sleep serves 2 purposes:
1) Away-time from my kids either by their or my unconsciousness or a combination of both
2) Emotional and physical rejuvination

Number one may seem disposable but I find that my sanity level can be better maintained when I send the kids off to bed which I spend a lot of time meticulously planning so that they are all in bed for naps (Novan and Beya's only nap and Iyov's second nap) at the same time. There are a few days every once in a while in which Iyov's schedule gets off that I only get a half hour or so kid-free but he quickly reverts back to his schedule. Novan, on rare occasions does not actually sleep but plays quietly. I have observed that a dark and quiet environment does a lot to wind him back down emotionally and physically which he benefits from tempermentally anyway. Speaking of dark and quiet, these are things I am a 100% believer in when it comes to encouraging sleep or at least neccessary for quiet time. Just consider your own mood and how you feel on a cloudy rainy day vs. a sunny day. Your body reacts physically to darkness because it believes it is time to sleep.

A lot of people think I am "lucky" that Novan takes naps still but it's not like he would fall asleep in mid-play like he would when he was a baby and sleep was so essential and it's not like he wants to take naps either. I worked hard to get Novan to the point where he can soothe himself to sleep and to ingrain in him my expectation that he must be in bed when he is in his room for a nap or bedtime whether or not he sleeps. I plan to have mandatory naps for him as long as it is beneficial to his sleep schedule and me. I know plenty of Moms whose kids Novan's age and younger don't take naps and that's cool but at least for your sanity don't overlook the possibility of instilling an hour or two of "quiet time". Novan naps because napping is high on my priority list. But don't worry if it's not high on yours, I am sure you are much better than me at other things...like potty training for instance =) not to mention your kids probably go to bed earlier (mine go at 8pm). I think it's a travesty that they don't do naps in elementary school anymore especially considering all of the behavioral problems in which kids get so wound up and overstimulated easily. A nap or at least dark quiet time would really make it a bit easier for them to handle I think. Furthermore, babies need even more sleep than adults of course so I spend a great deal of time sleep "training" so that my kids as babies get the right amount of sleep for their development. Sleep begets sleep in kid world and if we start off committed to our kids getting the right amount of sleep, it carries over into later childhood.

Sleep is essential for health. Brad always says when he has stayed up too late too many nights in a row that he gets sick. This is because our immune system is better up to the task when our bodies have had time to sleep. It is truly a rejuvination process and what is more important health-wise than a healthy immune system to prevent and fight things like viruses, bacteria, and cancer? You simply cannot live without sleep. I know that science backs me up on this.

Finally, my sleep issues also revolve around the difficulty I have with sleep. It may be true that my obsession with it may have resulted in the difficulty I have in actually falling asleep, in a small part. I say "in part" because I remember having issues with falling asleep when I was a teenager as well before I ever spent any amount of time actually thinking about sleep. If I had a lot going on I found it immensely difficult to fall asleep even if I was extremely tired because I just couldn't shut off my brain. I think that difficulty has increased now because I have even MORE going on in my life for my brain to focus on. Conditions have to be just right for me to fall asleep, darkness, right temperature, a little light white noise in the background, a calm and peaceful spirit. If I wake up in the middle of the night for something more than just using the bathroom it takes a good bit of time for me to go back to sleep. The white noise is important because any irregular sound no matter how quiet will wake me up or prevent me from getting to sleep. In our rental house last year when I was pregnant when we didn't have a ceiling fan for noise the sound of my own breathing would keep me awake (I am always slightly congested when pregnant). Brad would laugh at me and tell me it was all in my head. I say, of course it's in my head, where else would it be?