Sunday, August 24, 2008

I heart sleep









Three days the children have been back to school and I’m trying really hard to consider it a privilege to see dawn in Bangkok each morning. It is beautiful but every morning?

The children’s bus leaves for school at 6.40am so we – by that I mean I, their mother - wake at 5.50am Monday to Friday. Husband continues to slumber because somewhere along the way, this is the deal we struck. Sometimes, I regard getting them up for school as occurring in the middle of the night and I return to my bed, when the bus has gone, to sleep until morning starts properly. I think this is where the deal is fair: even if he wanted to, Husband could not decide that his morning is too early!

I wish that I could make use of the early morning time, but I’m a bit useless without enough sleep. I’m thinking that I might have to do without a social life in the weekday evenings – wouldn’t be hard, I’ve hardly got one now. But it’s embarrassing waiting until the bedtime of 14 year old son, just so I can go to bed too.

As Husband and I approach our seventeenth wedding anniversary I often wonder at the fact that we’ve lasted so long. His bedtime is often four hours later than mine - my morning often starts four hours after he came to bed. He can function on five hours regularly a night while I’d be committing serious crimes if I have two nights in a row of five hours sleep.

Still, maybe it’s Jack Sprat and his wife, eh?

9 comments:

Pacha said...

That is an inhumanely early time to have to wake up and for your children to have to catch their school bus!!! It's just not right! (You should have a word with the school about this!)I wake up at 7a.m and it feels like dawn!

I know what you mean about waiting for kids to go to bed before going myself. Sometimes I go to bed BEFORE mine go to bed.

As for different timetables. I think that is the secret of a successful marriage. Not seeing each other too much to have time to spat! (but I'm cynical and twisted!)

Yvonne said...

I am exactly the same, just cannot function without 8 hours sleep a night. I have a theory that people who have problems with anxiety are often not getting enough sleep, it affects mood so much.

Jenny Beattie said...

Pacha, hello - where've you been? You been writing? I often go to bed before mine at weekends: I am officially pathetic.

Yvonne, OMG, you're so right. I bet lack of sleep alone accounts for my post natal depression!

Pat Posner said...

The Bangkok dawn looks amazing but, I agree, every morning is just too much.
I'm another one who needs 8 hours sleep.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I get up every school morning at 6.15 as my two have to be on the bus at 7.30 and I have to be at work for 8am.

I don't need much sleep at all and usually only ever get the recommended eight hours once every couple of weeks/months.

R and I have completely different timetables and I agree with Pacha that it probably is a secret to a successful marriage.

Sue Guiney said...

JJ: You sound just like me! I have to get up at 6.15 to get my son out to school, but although my husband does it too, he happily gets up after 5 or 6 hours sleep and starts his day, and I go back to bed and try to start all over again a couple of hours later. I sometimes wonder how much more I'd accomplish if I could live on 5 hour of sleep a day, but just thinking about it makes me tired!

Jenny Beattie said...

Pat, it is lovely and often I rush back to my bedroom to find my camera, but there's also a limit to how many lovely dawn pictures one can have!

Debs, how I envy you. I wish I could cope with less, but there's just no point even trying.

Sue, it's not something you can fight though is it? It's not negotiable, you just have to have it.

Angie said...

I used to function fine on 6 hours, but these days I need closer to 8. I'm useless in the mornings. I'm a night owl and feel so much more productive then, but husband is most productive early in the morning, so we're on completely different timetables too.
I think Pacha and Yvonne may be on to something!

Marcie Steele said...

Hey JJ! Me too I need my sleep but with the Flynnster about, we've got no chance. Until he came along I didn't know there were two 5.10 per day! Still, getting time to do the editing...when I'm not splitting him up from fighting with Big Brother.

I have every sympathy for you, honey, hopefully my wake up call won't be that early for long! xx