My daughter was born nine years ago and that's when it started - the cycle of interrupted sleep. Now a very very (very) conservative estimate would be that over the last 9 years I have lost about 6552hrs of sleep (an average of 2 hrs a night over 9 years). I'm tired. But more than being tired... I also think I've lost myself. Now, The Husband (TH) would argue with this and say that in general it's very easy to locate me... according to him, I'm always in bed!!?? Well with 6552 hrs of lost sleep.... he would be too!
But that's not what I'm talking about. Between being a mother, wife, employee, friend, class rep and a myriad of other things... I think I've forgotten who I am.. who I REALLY am. So like Pixar... I'm going to metaphorically speaking, "Find Nemo".
I see this as an investment... an investment in me! Now I can see TH rolling his eyes as he reads this. After all will this "investment" also end up being advertised on Gumtree (treadmill/exercise bike et. al) - well I sincerely hope not! As far as I'm aware there's not a huge market for sleep deprived moms! Perhaps they are all on OLX???
So the first thing I've decided to do is work less. Now again, I can see TH thinking "How much LESS can she possibly work???" Granted, I am only billing my employer about 50hrs a month at this stage...... But......well....... ok, I've got nothing. It's just something I want to do.
I know that my income does allow us to enjoy some luxuries... electricity and running water for example. But hey, a bath every second day and regular braais never hurt anyone, right?
Again, TH would argue that I nap over weekends... ok, so yes, I nap on Sat morning and again in the afternoon and then if I'm lucky, I squeeze in a nap on Sunday. So in total - let's say 6 hrs over the weekend. Over 9 years that's ONLY about 2808 hrs... so technically I'm still owed 3744hrs of sleep - and I plan on claiming those back!
But this is more than just about claiming back lost sleep... it's about claiming back the "me" that has got lost along the way and like Stella, I plan on getting my groove back!
