When our twin girls were first born, we didn’t expect to sleep.  We knew we’d be up most of the time feeding, changing diapers, etc.  Once someone asked me how much sleep I had gotten the night before.  I hesitated and said, “About seven hours.”  She said, “So why are you so tired?”  Well, I was still tired because it wasn’t seven consecutive hours.  It was broken night of sleep — one hour here and two hours there.  The sum total sounded better than it was. Now our girls are six years old.  They go to bed about 8:00 p.m.  I try to get to bed within a couple of hours after that.  It sounds like I should be well-rested.  So, why am I still trying to get enough sleep? My new sleep problem is my husband.  It’s not the stereotypical snoring problem that keeps me awake.  It’s his internal clock.  He decided about a year ago that he wanted to get into the office earlier and get home earlier.  This has several advantages, especially for someone who takes the train.  The parking lot is pretty empty.  The trains are not packed.  He gets to work before most people, so he takes advantage of a little peace and quiet before the rest of the office arrives. He likes getting home earlier to spend a little more time with the girls each night.  It’s all good during the week. The problem is he cannot seem to turn off his new, earlier routine on the weekends.  Even on days when we have no reason to get out of bed early, he wakes up before the sun. No matter how tired he is the night before, he will always wake up at the same time. It’s the same problem we have with the girls.  No matter when they go to bed, they wake up between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.  Given their early start to each day, I realize I won’t be sleeping until Noon.  I would just like the extra hour or so that the weekend affords.  I keep hearing that by the time the girls are pre-teens and teenagers, I’ll have to drag them out of bed each day.  The legend goes that they will sleep until Noon every chance they get.  I like to think that some day they will sleep a bit later in the morning, especially on weekends.  The problem now is how do I get my husband to sleep until 8:00 a.m. or so? This is an original Chicago Moms Blog post.  Shari can be found at Two Times the Fun .  Photo courtesy of Stock.Xchng .

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Why am I Still Seeking Sleep?