Surviving on fumes

Almost anyone will tell you that in order to be healther, happier, live longer, have less stress, you must get enough sleep. By enough, most mean eight hours a night. I have always wondered though, does it all have to get gotten at night? Do naps count? And if I don't get enough, for how long can I keep going? Well, in the past, when I was a new mom, and then a mom again, I survived on fumes alone; for months even with my second, as he refused to sleep through the night for some reason. I assume that since it worked for him to get his sleep through naps during the day, it should be okay for me too. The interesting thing is, I don't always get to have that nap. Oh to be a baby!!! When my son takes a nap, a message must travel the airways, phoneways, internetways, and whatever other "ways" there are to let people know that it's naptime in my house. Naptime means, call me, call me again, and knock on the door. Heck, don't knock just ring the doorbell cuz then the dogs will bark and we all have fun when that happens. If I do get a few minutes to "sit" on the couch and even entertain the idea of laying down, I feel the immediate and urgent need to pee. Bother!!!! Oh what's this? Dirty laundry that needs doing? I feel hungry too, but darn, I can't get a snack until I do the dishes. Who's calling this time? wrong number. Ok, dishes are done, now the floor is messy, and the laundry is ready to go into the dryer now. Oh my gosh! I still didn't get that snack. I need to workout. But oh look at the clock, naptime is going to be over any minute. Well, I will go to bed early tonight, cuz naptime only counts if you actually get to take it.

Early? what is that? Define Early... 12:15am? 11:00pm? 10:00pm? Hah! I never got a chance to workout so I have to go to the gym. Get home, after waiting for power lines to get fixed on the highway...need to shower so I can rock my son. Guess what though, he isn't tired yet. Too bad. I will just lay with him and hope he falls asleep. While this at last gives me an excuse to lay down, ironically i now pray I won't fall asleep. I want to sleep in my own bed. Early to me would be 9:00 but I am lucky if I get to bed by 10:30. I run on fumes many days. How do I do it? I think it's a womans unique adaptive quality to be able to fun on fumes for days on end, only refueling with enough fuel to get us to the next stop. Every now and then do we get the opportunity to fill our tanks to the Full level. I don't know about you, but my days, though filled with the above mentioned trials, challenges, and toy messes, are also filled with joys, laughs, fun, learning, and teaching moments. These are the things that fuel me enough to keep me going. Mothers are amazingly adaptive, and resilient. We will keep going, keep running if only on fumes. That's just what we do!

Dani