Parrotheader.com

Throughout all my transitions in life since college (from college life to the 'real world', from single life to married life, from no kids to parenthood) I've been able to hold onto my modest night owl ways. Without too much ill effects I've been able to continue going to bed on or a bit after 1:00 for most of that time and wake up the following morning ready to go. Maybe a brief 15 minute power nap might be needed some days, but other than that I'm usually ok.

Some will say it's just an age thing and they could be right. But I think it's also a family thing. My mom's always had problems with insomnia and my dad's long been a nightowl (for much of my lifetime anyway.) So I don't think my sleep patterns will be dramatically changing anytime soon.

Part of the reason I've been able to get away with this pattern though has also been that I can usually count on either sleeping in or taking a big nap on the weekends to sort of recharge my batteries for the cummulative sleep I might have lost by staying up during the week. Holly's always been an early riser so I could count on her to be awake and take care of anything on the days I slept in. But this Christmas season might throw a monkeywrench into things. With Holly unable to pickup or tend to Laney after her surgery (and only recently able to fend for herself) I'll basically be the only one able to take care of Laney over the holidays (whenever grandparents aren't around.) That means not only do I have to get up at 7:00 every workday as normal, I'll also have to do that on the weekends and throughout the holidays until it's ok for Holly to pick things up again. And despite my best efforts, it's nearly impossible for me to force myself to go to sleep before midnight.

So if you see me nodding off before or after the holidays, just poke me with a stick if you need something.