Oct. 26, 2009 - In Praise of Sleep
Once a month, our church holds an evening service and last Sunday was the night. Some of you may recall that on our way to September's service, our van window blew in when a piece of metal catapulted through it. We are nothing if not intrepid, so this weekend we headed out again. This time, we got to the service safe and sound. Our time there was wonderful and blessed and long; the result was that we got home after 9 p.m., and the kids were in bed by 10 p.m.
I am on the compulsive side where bedtime is concerned. As a morning person, I am not at my best in the evening. By the time 7 p.m. rolls around, I am ready for the children to be in bed so I can rest and spend some time with Kevin. They are NOT in bed at that point, but we start doing baths and night chores and night snacks, and usually everyone is in his/her bedroom by 8:30 p.m. Our older girls read until 9:15 p.m. and then turn off the lights and talk until 9:30 p.m. The younger ones usually are asleep earlier, except for Angela; she still takes a nap and can occasionally be heard babbling at 9:30 p.m. but at least she is resting and in the right place for sleeping.
What does sleep have to do with homeschooling? Well, I would argue A LOT. Yesterday was a very rough day around here after a short night of sleep. I had hoped they would sleep in but mostly they did not. The children were tired and crabby. Our 2 and 3 year old girls are by nature argumentative, and when they are tired, they are argumentative squared. I'm not technically homeschooling the younger ones, but when they are crabby, I'm more stressed. There is more noise. Everything is a struggle.
I'm glad we went to church, but I'm glad we don't often go out at night. I think it is a valuable thing for every family (homeschooling or not) to ponder sleep issues occasionally. Are the children getting enough sleep? Are we?
One of the blessings of homeschooling is that we can choose our schedules, and indeed sleeping in can be a fine thing. I know of families where the children stay up late so they can spend time with their father who works odd hours. That is great, so long as the kids can also sleep in in the morning.
But many families in our culture are pushing the sleep envelope. They are so busy with all the activities and opportunities, that they don't make sleep a priority. Sleep seems like an "optional" thing, and in my younger days I made the mistake of not getting enough. Somewhere along the line I learned that a super tired woman is not as able to be the wife, mother, and friend that God wants her to be. And chronically tired children may suffer from more illness and less patience to cope with the challenges of life.
So let's get enough sleep!
Comments
Nov. 10, 2009 - Sleep is important!
Posted by AthaSchool1
