Sleep Deprived

A mother knows what true sleep deprivation is.  It begins at conception with the frequent trips to the bathroom during the night.  Luckily, in the beginning you are usually able to go right back to sleep.  Which is good because your body is exhausted.  By the end of the pregnancy, you wake at every turn, pee every 5 minutes and just want the kid out so you can sleep.  But the last laugh is on you.  You will never sleep again.  At least not for the next year.  Or however long you plan to continue to have babies.  So as a mother, when the occasional night of restless sleep happens we can blow it off and say, "I can swing this." But there's the catch...you can't.

You are older, you don't have one child you have more than one.  They are growing.  Causing you worry.  Fighting over dumb stuff.  Making messes.  Being noisy.  Asking for a snack for the third time in an hour.  You have errands to run, a week to plan, and soon your list is filling your head and sleep is being pushed further and further away.

I used to say I had insomnia.  I don't anymore.  True insomnia is defined as waking every 1 to 2 hours and then falling back to sleep.  Nothing woke you, you just simply wake up.  And just like that you fall back asleep.  It's not good sleep.  You need straight sleep.  Lying awake thinking about things night after night is not insomnia.  It is anxiety, depression, excitement...etc.*

What do you do when you find you can not sleep?  Do you count sheep?  Do you read?  Do you go on your Smartphone?  TV?  PC?  Do you eat?  Drink some milk?  Write?  Fold laundry?(I did this once!) 

*  I am not a doctor (but I play one on TV) if you are having nightly bouts with anxiety please talk to your doctor...you know the real one. ;)