Candid Motherhood: Don’t Fall Asleep on Me

Moms, I’ve got bad news for you. You will never sleep well again. This is something that they may not tell you about in those nifty little birthing classes you take. From about the nanosecond that the sperm and egg unite to, at the very least, 20 years later, your children will find a way to keep you up at night.  You may hear hushed whispers about how your newborn baby will wake you multiple times at night, and how hard life is before baby “sleeps through the night.” But what you probably don’t realize is that from the moment you conceived your first child, a biological bell was rung inside your very core that can never be un-rung. Baby might sleep soundly, all might be quiet and still…your bed might feel like a cloud with your silken sheets and balmy night breeze. But your ability to get a full, deep night’s sleep left you as swiftly as 2 pink lines appeared on a urine soaked stick.

When you become a mom you develop super-human abilities, but these are fraught with complications. For example, you can hear a cricket chirping in the neighboring county. This seems like it would be useful in certain protective circumstances, but you will find that it also means that you can hear your grocery list waxing eloquent from the dark recesses of your mind.  You’ll acquire a heightened awareness of any potential danger, but that means you’ll also sense the bacteria building up in between the tread of your jogging stroller tires and you’ll foolishly assume that if you disinfect it in the middle of the night that you’ll find peace.

You’ll ache in places you didn’t know you had. Muscles that were once supple and toned will find their sole existence in cramping right when you’re on the cusp of Dreamland. And while your teenager can sleep for a solid 17 hours, they’ll spend the remaining 7 hours of the day , between the hours of 10pm and 5am, keeping you frenzied with worry.

It’s a sacred trust that mothers enter albeit unknowingly.  You see, once our children move into our hearts and minds, there’s little room left for anything else. Sleep included.

Say this with me, ladies, “Sleep is overrated.” A statement that is, of course, completely untrue. Sleep is wonderful, but you’ve got to forget about that. Feed yourself this line long enough and you might just start to believe it.

Just about the time that the stars align, your children leave the nest and wing out on their own, your home is quiet and calm and all of the external factors are ripe for sleep, your internal chemistry will turn on you. Let’s face it. By the time your kids leave home, you’ll be straddling the narrow years between middle age and twilight known as menopause.  Darn hot flashes.

Never mind that sleep deprivation is used by government agencies to break the wills of even the most hardened criminal masterminds. What you lose in sanity, you gain in rich love. It’s time you wear the bags under your eyes as you would a medal on your jacket; an award earned because you gave all you had for the good of your offspring. Otherwise known as motherhood.

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Karis Murray is a Scottsdale, Arizona native and mother to daughters Riley, age 8 and Lydia, age 6.  She is currently the Creative Director for the Family Matters Minute Radio Show and serves as Lead Writer and Editor for the show.  She has been a freelance writer for more than 10 years and is a poet in her own mind!  Learn more about Karis at her blog: CandidMotherhood.com.