a little sleep, a little slumber....

Last night I did something revolutionary:  I went to bed before eight o'clock (one minute before, actually).  Despite several interruptions - refereeing sibling issues, husband coming to bed, husband getting out of bed, husband pulling up covers - I was a new person this morning.  (see this post for the person I was yesterday!).

I answered my husband's "good morning" decently.  I was eager for my baby to wake up (he, too, has been suffering from sleep deprivation and went to bed over an hour early last night, exhausted).  I made baked oatmeal for my family's breakfast.  I started a load of laundry and hung it out to dry.  I took my children on a walk through dew-drenched grass between fields of corn and soybeans.  We saw an indigo bunting!  We played "guess where I'm sitting" (which idea came to me last night as I was waiting to fall asleep).  I did some hemming that I've been procrastinating for weeks - and had the patience to explain the whole process to an audience of three.

My mind is clear and able to think creatively.  I am calm and patient with my children, and able to enjoy including them in my activities.  (Unfortunately, this has been unusual lately!)

I must confess, though, that it was NOT easy to go to bed early last night.  I had no time to myself after putting the girls to bed.  No leisure reading.  No relaxing conversation with my Farmer, catching up on each other's days.  No snacking.  No finishing up leftover chores.

But you know what?  It was worth it.  I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!  (Not tonight, though, probably - I'll just try to go to bed when I'm tired, instead of waiting until everything is crossed off my to-do list).

What inspired me to go to bed so crazy early was a book I'm reading, Sleepless in America by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka.  I am so grateful for this book, I could cry.  It has helped me understand why some of my children sleep easily, and why some get so wired (and what to do about it).

Mary Sheedy Kurcinka has more than twenty years' experience as a teacher, an award-winning parent educator, and an international trainer, and she's written some great books on related topics.  What she has to say may revolutionize your world.

Just to whet your appetite, the subtitle of the book is "Is Your Child Misbehaving or Missing Sleep?"  The book is full of real-life examples of parents solving tantrums and bedtime struggles, attention problems and whining, by changing the way they approach sleep.  It is definitely aimed at helping children, but her points applied to parents can have dramatic effects, as I found out.

Sleep well:  live well.

a "wasted" day

Today is Saturday.  

Usually, by Friday afternoon, at least, we (I) plan our Saturdays to maximize our time together (i.e. "our joint ability to get a lot of chores done").

This week I am too pooped to muster thoughts of efficiency.  This week, we watched a movie on tv Friday night.  It had absolutely no literary merit and was not otherwise lofty in any way.  (If you must know, it starred Steve Martin and John Candy).  We stayed up late and laughed ourselves silly.

And then ....

....we slept in.  Until the sun and the children woke us up.  It was lovely.  And even more lovely was having absolutely no plans for the day.  It felt deliciously decadent to know that we could watch tv all day if we wanted to (that would be a shocking first for us, but it felt like a real possibility).

Mid-morning, I found myself posting on facebook that I was "doing nothing", and realized that I had in fact already fed the baby breakfast, started a load of laundry, cleaned the bathroom, bathed one daughter and showered myself.

Huh.  But it did feel like "nothing", somehow.

Later, after watching a Chinese language dvd with the girls and helping Sugar and Spice make lunch (which they usually do by themselves while Nice sets the table), I folded laundry, took a quick nap, read an extra chapter to Sugar and Spice from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (while advising Nice to keep Lil' Snips away from various enticing household dangers), and then decided to bake cookies.

And it still felt like "nothing."

I spooned lumps of cookie dough onto the trays, mulling over this anomaly:  I was doing as much as, or more than, I would have on a day powered by a to-do list, and yet .... I felt relaxed, carefree.  Was it the extra sleep?  Having "backup" (as husbands who work away are gratefully but inadequately called when they are home)?

Both sleep and the presence of my stalwart husband help, of course.  But I feel as if I have discovered something alluringly simple.  Today I was focused on enjoying the day, relaxing, just being with my family.  My intention was to deliberately "waste" my day.

Instead, serendipity happened:  I was productive with my time.  And, miracle of miracles, I enjoyed it along the way.

I wasn't hurrying.  I didn't push children out of my way (*blush* as is my custom at times).  I didn't say "not now" when Nice longingly admired the pictures in one of Lil' Snip's books.  Instead, I stopped what I was doing and read her the story - right then!  (that only deserves an exclamation point, I'm embarrassed to tell you, because it is so highly unusual for me).  I didn't fret about time & schedules - in fact, we ate lunch early because .... we were hungry early.

I would like to say that this has been an epiphany and hereafter I will run my household with a lighter touch, but I don't suppose there will actually be an overnight transformation.  It does give me a faint sort of hope, though, for a different reality.  Could life be like that - always?

Or is that what heaven is for?

I will be grateful for the gift of a happily "wasted" day.  Now if you will excuse me, I need to go eat a cookie with my daughters....