In Defense of the Night Owls

If you are my friend on facebook, you know what my morning was like ... If not, let me re-cap:

My husband is out of town, babysitting some teenagers at a fine arts competition for our school (I shouldn't sound so negative - but truly, his only purpose there is to keep the peace and track the bodies as they compete in their various singing & speeching events, maintain order at the hotel, and basically to be the "responsible one"). I don't envy him - except that he had dinner at Chick-Fil-A last night. It's not that I don't like teenagers - I just don't like being "the heavy". He's ok with it all, except that he'd really rather be at school, teaching. ANYHOO...I digress.

So, I'm responsible to get A&A to school today, ON TIME - lunches in hand. They were actually excited about that since they usually have to go in with Dan - who gets to school an hour early (and my kids go to early-care, which they really don't mind as they have friends who are there - however, they don't like getting up between 5:45 - 6 a.m. each day). I let the kids sleep til 7 a.m. this morning, and they (we all) were ready by 7:30/45 ish. Right on time. For some reason, I blanked out at this point. We should have been OUT THE DOOR right then. But I sat at the table, eating my cereal like I had no where to go, nothing to do. Can't explain it - except that I really didn't remember I was supposed to be taking the kids somewhere. I don't know.

Finally, my son says, "Um, Mom, aren't we supposed to go to school?" And you know how that PANIC sets in - that "OH MY GOODNESS - we've got to take action. Now!" mode. That's what hit! We locked the baby in the car seat - and flew down the road. I pulled into the school property at 8:13 a.m. School starts at 8:15 a.m. The usual line of "late" parents (who I always judged quite-not-nicely when I was the school secretary & responsibly at work ON TIME) was traffic-jamming at the drop off door. I let my kids jump out of the car & run (through the rain) into the building - but I'm still pretty sure they were tardy. Ugh. No excuses. They were LATE. Because of me.

I blame it on NOT being a morning person. I never was - even all those days I worked and had to be at the office on time (and usually was flying in the door - right on time - phew!!), even though society functions seem to require you to do things in the morning. I have tried to convert, especially since my husband is such an early riser. He loves mornings - sings, talks, taps his razor on the sink when he shaves (tap-tap-tap. pause. tap-tap-tap. pause). He's finally - after 17 years of marriage - realized that he needs to be QUIET in the mornings - but he can hardly contain himself. Thankfully, my son is sort of a morning person, so they discuss World War 2 history, politics, current events, family lore, etc in the early morning hours. I can barely discuss my first name and what's on the to-do list before 8 a.m.

At night, Dan falls asleep about 2 seconds after his head hits the pillow, usually - if he hasn't already crashed on the couch around 7 or 8 p.m. He told me that a few times while in the Army, he slept while standing up, leaning against a wall! (He didn't mean like deep, REM sleep, but just kind of dozing off). The man can sleep any where. In a truck, a helicopter, an airplane, a bus, on the floor, in a 50-man tent ...

ME: I need perfect quiet when I sleep (that's why Miriam's grunts & sighs keep me awake since her bassinet is in our room. Thankfully I didn't marry a "snorer" or sleep-talker.). I need perfect dark (Miriam has a nightlight by her bed - I always sleep with my back to it!). I prefer the perfect temperature, and the covers arranged a certain way. However, in real life, you don't always get to sleep like that. That's why I am a huge fan of sleeping in whenever I can achieve those conditions (which is pretty much relegated to Saturday mornings IF my early bird husband isn't already out & about, grocery shopping or yard-saling, or at the library, or whatever).

All my life I've had to be pretty defensive about my sleeping habits. I probably sleep just as much (or as little) as people who go to bed earlier than I do - it just so happens that I prefer to come out of the bedroom later in the day than most. I'm not lazy - my house is clean enough -my kids have clean clothes - I cook - I take care of my family's bills & paperwork.

In society, I think, "sleeping late" is somewhat frowned upon. It's the "early bird that gets the worm." Well, I don't like worms anyway ... I'm sure the night owl gets something too (a juicy mouse? an unsuspecting rabbit??).

SO... all that silliness to say this: I recently read an article that made me SO happy!! :) Granted, the source is FIRST FOR WOMEN, which probably isn't the most highly rated, most noted, most scholarly magazine ever ... but the article was about giving yourself a break - and one of the blurbs says this: "ENHANCES PRODUCTIVITY: Sleeping in." (and I heard the angels sing!).
The article goes on to say don't bother to get up at the crack of dawn on the weekend to get a jump start on your to-do list (unless, you are like my husband & function naturally at those early hours). And here IS a scholarly part: (and I quote) "In a study at the Free University in Belgium, subjects who slept until noon performed tasks more efficiently and boasted longer attention spans than volunteers who rose by 6 a.m. Researchers believe that a late start to the day may make the brain more resistant to cyclical slowdowns in activity." I'm moving to Belgium; they appreciate people like me.