| Author | |
Maddie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 27 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1804
|
| Posted: Feb 03 2008 at 10:43pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Do you have a set time in the morning that you must be up by? My days are so inconsistent right now with a new baby in the house, I never know when I'll be able to get to bed, especially now that she is teething. 
I wonder if getting the required amount of sleep is your priority ( in my case 8 hours is great, 9 is perfect) or getting your day rolling consistently on time with a nap (yeah, right!  ) in the middle of the day somewhere? Do you just go through the day sleep deprived because a consistent schedule for everyone is the priority?
I have teens, so breakfast will be given to any early risers, but I feel pulled between the two worlds of blissful baby days and nights and the homeschooling momma of 8 who need me to be on duty. Things do go smoother when I am up directing traffic, but oh, that bed looks good at about lunchtime.
I would so appreciate your responses. I wonder if I'm being lazy by getting enough sleep, baby sleeps very well once she's asleep as she snuggles in for a night of momma time and nursing. Sometimes I wish I could lay all day in bed with her and snuggle, she's so precious! 
__________________
~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Feb 03 2008 at 11:10pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I find there's gotta be a balance.. if I don't get enough sleep, not only does me directing things get neglected but I start getting grouchy and that makes us ALL miserable..
So I try and get enough sleep even if it's not as much as I'd like.. but don't force myself up at a particular time if I don't stand a reasonable chance of getting to bed and sleep early enough.
I'll turn off an alarm if I've been horribly shorted and try and get enough for me to be functional.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
vmalott
Forum All-Star
Joined: Sept 15 2006
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 536
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 8:06am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I found during this last pregnancy that once I relaxed my idea of when we needed to get things rolling around here, things went much more smoothly. The plus side is that I was able to (and still can, when I want to) linger in bed on those mornings where I needed to be a bit more lazy. 
That said, the latest I'm up in the morning is 9am, and we usually get things going school-wise around 10. I'm sure that's shockingly late for some people, but it works for us...the kids get their free time before doing schoolwork and I get an hour or so to "myself" (which includes a nursing baby these days).
On a good day this means I also get a head start on the daily chores (laundry, tidy the kitchen, sweeping, garbage, etc.) so they aren't nagging at me while we're doing school things. On a better day, those who are motivated to get a head start before we begin official "table time" will begin their work without me (the older kids have a weekly assignment folder). 
So, getting the required amount of sleep is a priority, as is getting a consistent start to the day...it's just that our start is much later than most families we know. As I said before, it works for us, and it has been really easy working the baby into that rhythm.
Valerie
__________________
Valerie
Mom to Julia ('94), John ('96), Lizzy ('98), Connor ('01), Drew ('02), Cate ('04), Aidan ('08) and three saints in heaven
Seven Times the Fun
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Lara Sauer
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 15 2007
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 679
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 8:38am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My sister-in-law had a beautiful needlepoint that she hung on her wall many years ago when her children were small. I loved the words then and I still love them today. Please apply them to your own situation as you see fit.
Cleaning and sewing can wait 'til tomorrow,
For babies go up, I've learned to my sorrow.
So, quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
Peace.
__________________
You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Rachel May
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 24 2005
Location: Kansas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2057
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 6:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
If we aren't up by 7, our day spirals out of control, but everyone here is still little so we are early to bed also.
I'm not sleeping as well at night now, so I've found that I tend to sleep through the alarm for 15-20 minutes, and I also feel sleepy in the morning if I sit. However, we have a set quiet/nap time for everyone, and I'll give myself a 1/2 hour nap if I need it. I was just wondering today if this will continue to work after the baby.
With our schedule I try to do what works best for most of us, and I'm finding MY age is affecting our schedule more than the kids' ages.
__________________
Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Paula in MN
Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 25 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4064
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Rachel May wrote:
| If we aren't up by 7, our day spirals out ... |
|
|
In our home it's 5!
Rachel May wrote:
| I'm finding MY age is affecting our schedule more than the kids' ages. |
|
|
__________________
 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
kingvozzo
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2005
Location: Maine
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2653
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 7:58pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well, for the first time since I've become a mother, I'm using an alarm clock, and it's set for 7:30. i'm more of a night owl, and my kids would all sleep in till 9 or so if left to their own devices. i'm trying to train us all a bit better, so the kids' alarm is set for 8am. this gives me a chance to grab a shower and wake up while dh tends to the baby and gets him changed. We've been doing this since Christmas, and so far, so good.
In the past, I had always just gotten up with the kids, but after the baby was born, I realized that just wasn't working with us anymore. Plus, I'm making sure that I'm in bed no later than midnight. The baby's still waking up to eat around that time, so i just go to bed for that feeding.
__________________
Noreen
Wife to Ed
Mom to 4 great kids and 10 sweet ones in Our Lady's arms
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 9:20pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We don't have a baby in the house, but I tend to be more like Valerie -- well, regardless of when I get up, our day really gets rolling between nine and ten. We tend toward later nights (even our littles -- they were in bed tonight at 8, which was early for them), which translates into slightly later mornings. I'm usually up by 7 or 7:30, 8 at the latest, but we ease into our morning in pretty leisurely fashion.
That said, my big kids make their own breakfasts, and my 10yo, who is a morning person, generally gets the bulk of his schoolwork done by 8 -- he likes to eat his breakfast and do his math at the same time. So the answer to "what time do you get started" in our house depends largely on which person you're asking!
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 10:38pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I get up at 6.30 am, when dh leaves for work.
It used to be 6.30 am, after a morning feeding time with the baby.
I tend to sacrifice my sleep so I can have earlier, workable mornings and then late-ish nights with teens and dh. When the kdis were little, I'd catch up with weekend naps and an occasional early night. Now I catch up with an occasional early night...
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary G
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5790
|
| Posted: Feb 04 2008 at 11:20pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
As Leonie points out -- it really depends on your kids and where you are ...
Dh and I have decided morning Mass is important -- so I get up with the puppy at 5, kids get up at 7, littles go to daily Mass (8:15) with me and littles are being read to by dad from about 7 till 8:30/9 ...dh teaches at high school level, so he's asleep by 9 to get up by 4 to prep for the day ... I'm up till 10 or so, helping 16yod with school or answering emails
I think this sched will definitely change as the littles become older
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Tina P.
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1638
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 8:21pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Maddie wrote:
| I would so appreciate your responses. I wonder if I'm being lazy by getting enough sleep, baby sleeps very well once she's asleep as she snuggles in for a night of momma time and nursing. Sometimes I wish I could lay all day in bed with her and snuggle, she's so precious! |
|
|
My vote is for sleep. As someone told me once, ANYONE with eight children can't possibly be lazy. Taking special time out for yourself and your baby shows your other kids how much you value her (and if they think in retrospect, each of them when they were small). Maybe you could have your littles come to you some days when you're particularly worn out and do their work or listen to living books read by you in bed! Just a thought!
__________________
Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
Mary's Muse
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Maddie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 27 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1804
|
| Posted: Feb 05 2008 at 11:54pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you all for the responses, I really appreciate the insight. I struggle so much with this because my dh gets so little sleep as he balances two full-time jobs. There are nights he may only get 5-6 hours sleep and here I am all snug in bed with baby-girl for 8-9 peaceful hours. I try telling myself I can give more when I am well rested, but it makes me think if he can sacrifice so much, shouldn't I? But days I try to cut my sleep short are so unproductive!
__________________
~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Philothea
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 15 2006
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 824
|
| Posted: Feb 06 2008 at 10:09am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think men literally need less sleep to function well. At least, that's been my experience. It kind of makes sense, when you think about what God designed each sex for (I mean that in a general way, I don't want to get into a sexism argument).
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: time to rise
