Ohmystinkinheck

Those of you, like me, who have had multiple children, know that you can pop three kids out of your womb and all three of them are going to be totally and completely different from each other. One will rise and shine with the roosters and another can barely drag herself out of the bed into the shower. One will need to be in bed by 8:30 to be rested and the other will stow away a flashlight or use the hall light to color and/or write in her journal for an hour or so past prayer-time.

Meredith is my night owl. Once she told Jeff she could stay up all night. He thought he’d test her. She beat him - and by that, I mean he gave up around 2:30 and called it a night. The girl LOVES the evening hours.

It cracks me up to round the corner of the hallway and see her counting her toes, squirreling away toys in her bed to keep her occupied after’lights out’, coloring, or trying to get her sister to ‘chat’ with her via DS long after her sister has fallen asleep in the other room.

I’ve always liked mornings better than the evening, though as a mother I tried to force that change by staying up later. It seemed the earlier I awoke, the earlier my kids awoke, so I finally gave in and learned to catch my extra winks in the morning. Now I burn the midnight oil to get those last design jobs completed, or to catch up on email or chats from friends I’ve missed in all the bustle of the day.

This morning as I turned off my 5:00 am alarm and crawled back in next to Jeff I realized I’ve got to get back to my natural clock; early to bed and early to rise. I just FEEL better when I work the way God made me to work.

I wonder how long it will be before Meredith protests her 8:00 bedtime, declaring much the same, “But Momma, I CAN’T go to sleep at 8:00, my body is AWAKE.”

I wonder how well I’ll sleep knowing one of my kiddos is up past the time I’ve dropped into my own peaceful slumber.

What are your internal clocks like? Does it mesh with your mate’s? Your children’s? Do tell.

34 Responses to “Night Owl”

1. chocolatechic

   I am early to bed, early to rise….however, since my man works 2 jobs, I stay up late waiting for him to get home. I generally fall asleep around 10…but I am sooooo tired way before that.

   My son is same as me, but my girl…night owl.

2. mamalang

   I’m a night owl. The oldest loves to sleep in, and stay up late, but she’s a teenager. The middle hates to slee, but needs to go to bed at a decent time and sleep until she wakes up, or she’s a bear. The Boy…he’s just wired whenever he’s awake. He can go hard on very little sleep for days.

   I’m a night owl myself. I find I’m exhausted until around 8 or so at night, then I’m wired until 11 or later. It kind of sucks.

3. heidi

   Thing 1 & thing 2 usually wake-up by 7am, no matter what. Thing 3 still wakes up at 5:30am, even after promising him a pile of $$ to sleep until *morning*.

4. Tina

   I’m early to bed early to rise and need much more sleep than my husband whose a night owl. It has taken quite a bit of work to convince him that he doesn’t need to feel guilt about not going to bed with me. I’m fine with going to bed by myself and having the whole bed to myself and falling sound asleep before he snores! :)

5. Hay

   Hubby is early to bed and very early to rise. Being unschoolers we tend to stay up until around midnight. I love that night time with my girls, usually the baby is asleep too, miss 5 crashes about 10 and then its just me and my ‘big’ girls. That is when we have some of our best conversations.
   I get up with the baby a little after 8am and the rest of the kiddos can sleep as late as 11. It works for us.

6. Starwoodgal

   Hubby and I are completely different. I go to be at least two hours before he does and I’m up no later than 5:45 AM. I have to drag him out of the bed at 7:00 AM on week days and on weekends he sleeps until 9:00 AM. By 9:00 AM I’ve done three loads of laundry, cleaned house and shopped Wal-Mart. Viva la difference! :)

7. nicole

   I am a morning person by nature but having 2 early rising kids backs me feel weary come morning…I would love to wake at 6 am and have the house to my self for at least 1/2 hour but no…the kids are up before 6am. I am ready for bed by 10 pm but my hubby, he is a night owl up ’til 1 am or so! It works most days!

8. Jessica

   Mer and I could have an all night marathon together, you know I’m a night owl and oh how I hate mornings. I’ve tried and tried to become a morning person, but I’m just not built that way.

   p.s. What is DS?

9. Kate

   My hubby is the morning person and always has been, even before kids. He usually gets up with the kids (either he’s already awake or he knows he won’t be able to go back to sleep) and I get to sleep in a bit. I’m the nightowl but try to make myself get to sleep by 11pm. It’s hard because I work evening shift so on the nights I work, I don’t get home until midnight.

   My daughter has been waking up around 5:30am lately, then crawling back into bed with me about 7am and sleeping until 9am. Now that’s it’s summer, my son has been staying up later (9:30-10pm) and sleeping in later (8am). It’ll be interesting to see how things change once school starts again.

10. Angela Tippets

    I am a nightowl and H.A.T.E. mornings before 8.
    My husband is a morning guy, up at 5 during the workweek, and up by 6 on the weekend
    I try and go to bed the same time as him, most nights. Mostly just to have some quiet, alone time -even if I’m not tired -eventually I go to sleep.
    Kids are all different like you say. My oldest stays up until 2 am most nights. She has ALWAYS required very little sleep. (except now she likes to sleep till noon)
    My middle (11-year-old) has just recently started to stay up a bit longer (10 pm) to read, and has started to sleep in a bit more.
    My youngest has anxiety issues, so he HAS to be in bed by 9:30, or we are hating life because he will get up multiple times with various worries or have a belly ache. For some reason, if he is not overly tired, he is MUCH better to go to sleep.
    I do like the quiet of the night though when everyone is sleeping and it’s just me.

11. Laurie

    I stay up later and get up earlier. He goes to bed earlier and gets up later.

    He gets more sleep than I do and I’m crankier than he is. Go figure.

12. Annie

    First of all, the picture is great. I L.O.V.E. it. Second of all, nightime is my right time. I have to MAKE myself go to bed. I’d sit up all night if I didn’t have to feed 3 children at 8 AM!!! As a result, we are kind of a late night family. 11:00 or laer in the summer time is no big deal!

13. Janera

    On the rare occasion that I get up early, I love it. The coolness, the quiet. Coffee and a few minutes of peace.

    But the keyword is rare. Because really? I’m a nightowl. I can stay up all night, writing, reading, sewing, cleaning. Well, writing, reading, and sewing.

    But then having to get up? ewwww. Hate it.

14. Coco

    I used to be a night owl, but aging, fighting off migraines, and getting a workout in every day have made me (usually) an early riser - and shhhh - I love being a morning person! Kid sleeps til 8-9am, man’s asleep early (and will sleep late whenever he can too!)

15. Mandy

    OH I am early to bed, early to rise. I can barely stay up past the news. My oldest can’t stay up post nine and wants her sleep. The youngest two however share a room and bunkbeds and plenty of bedtime whispers and giggles. Emmalee will hang on until her little eyelids can stay up no longer. Guess who’s the one that doesn’t ever want to get up in the morning? On more than one occasion I have dressed her as she slept standing up.

16. mary

    Really interesting! I love the photo, too. I prefer going to bed early and waking up early. I feel more productive and like I can enjoy more of the day. My husband is the same way, and he’s pretty much a stickler about us going to bed at the exact same time. But of course, life sometimes gets in the way and I’ll need to stay up late to finish something, or he’ll get caught up in a movie and we don’t go up to bed at the same time. That bums me out. And is when I’m most thankful that we’re on the same schedule most nights.

17. Marie

    We are a family of night owls. Both my husband and I are night owls, although I’m the more serious one by far. My natural clock has me sleeping between 3am and noon. Unfortunately, my dh has to get up every morning to go to work at 5:30am so he’s constantly dealing with lack of sleep. Before I had my daughter, people told me that she would change us. HAH! She takes after me in a big way. If she’s asleep before 11pm, we’re lucky. And she seems to need less sleep than us, which just isn’t fair! Both of us can sleep with the sun shining right on our faces which tells me that our bodies just don’t care about the light cues out there.

18. GP

    dear hubby used to be more the night owl whereas i’d hit the ground running (literally and figuratively) at o bright thirty. Now over the years i’ve stayed up later and gravitated towards just another hour of sleep while he ’s crashing earlier and rising earlier .. age?

    lol about your kids since i’ve discovered horses are very much like having kids… each with their own individual personalities. can’t even dare to compare ‘em :)

    gp in montana

19. ashpags

    Ah, the beauty of living alone. I’m a lot like Meredith, and I love not having to worry about keeping people up during my late nights anymore. =)

20. mamalang

    Jessica,
    DS = Nintendo DS.

    What an interesting discussion!

21. 9milemom

    I am the odd duck in my house. My husband and I are the complete opposites. He can stay up till 4 in the morning…I can get up at 4 in the morning.

    My girls, 10 and 12, are following in their father’s shoes unfortunately. The downside is that I get very little time with just my husband. The upside is I get plenty of quiet time in the morning!

22. Octamom

    My most extreme example of personal sleep and wake clocks are my 14 month old twins–they are COMPLETELY opposite. I posted about it here: http://www.octamom.com/2008/06/are-you-even-widdle-bit-sweepy.html

    It still blows my mind that they could be carried in the same womb at the same time getting the same nutrition and environment and all–and still be SO different…particularly when it comes to sleep!
    Blessings!

23. bethany actually

    I often wish I were a morning person, because I actually love early mornings, but I’m a night owl. It’s always been difficult for me to settle down and go to sleep, but it’s also always been difficult for me to wake up, even when I am well-rested. Troy is a morning person, but he also needs much less sleep than I do so he can stay up till 11pm and get up at 5am and he’s good. I could go to bed at 8pm every night for a month and I would STILL have trouble dragging myself out of bed at 5am, or even 6am. Annalie is kind of a combination of me and Troy. She can and will stay up as late as we will allow, but she almost never sleeps past 7:30 even in a totally darkened room. If the sun is shining in her room, she will awake with the sunrise. I think she just doesn’t like to sleep, period, because she’s afraid she will miss something!

24. elizabeth

    Oh, I can stay up late! Working 2nd shift doesn’t help that. Sadly for me, my kids wake up before 7am and the hubby is off to work before that. Sometimes (somehow!) I run a very small amount of sleep.

    My night-time habits are the subject of frequent arguments around here!

25. Claire in CA

    I’m a total night owl, as are my children and husband. However, dh has to get up at 6:30 a.m. for work, and has a bit of jealousy that the kids and I can “sleep in,” even though we are frequently productive at 12 a.m., so he calls each work-day morning at about 8. Nice, huh?

26. Mr. OMSH

    It is simply AMAZING how similar our stories. I too have a daughter like yours…oh wait, now that I think about it, she looks JUST like the girl in your picture.

    I, however, HATE mornings. Heaven will somehow have to incorporate an eternal SNOOZE button the alarm clock…Oh, and breakfast in bed. That’d be cool…

27. Mr. OMSH

    I know, I had a lot of typos.

28. naomi

    from the time that boy was a wee one his hours corresponded with his parents. not a single one of us are morning birds. evenings and nights are our prime times. mornings during the school year can be a tortuous time as we all try to negotiate the minefield known as morning.

29. Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy

    Night owl! I was up until 11 before I was laid off. Now that I’m home going to bed at 11 is “early” for me.

30. Cindra

    I was like Meredith, although I did outgrow it somewhat. I read under the covers with a flashlight… anything I could find. No journal… wish I had thought about that, it would be neat to know what was going on in that mind.
    Now I am a late night with early natural morning being around 8:00. Work morning is 5:50. I like my quiet time at night and first thing in the morning, but I can do that because I am an empty nester.

31. Stefani

    Oh! This girl and I will get along fine. I’ve been a night owl my whole life, and bedtime near about killed me as a kid!
    I still stay up late, which is why it is not good that my oldest guy is an early riser. Thankfully, he’s perfectly content to pour himself some cereal and read or just look out the window and watch the chickens.
    It makes me feel so guilty though, like I should be up making him muffins when he rises.

32. marigold

    I know I always do my best in the morning hours. I surpised myself this morning by actually “picking up” around the house before the bus came to take me to work. My husband can get up early and stay up late (later than I want to, usually). But I tell him that it’s so much better for us as a couple to at least go to bed together, for the snuggle time, even if one of us is up and awake before the other.

33. Mrs. Wilson

    Recently? It’s going to bed at midnight or later and getting up after 9:00 am. It’s a good life.

    When life gets back to normal though, I’m usually in bed by 10 or 11 at the latest and I’m out of bed between 7 and 7:30 to get Kaylie off to school. (Although I just got a job that starts at 7 am, so I guess I’ll have to get up earlier …)

    Noah and I have always had different internal clocks. He’s a late-to-bed early-to-rise kind of person. I’m more of a early-to-bed late-to-rise kind of person.

    My kids? In bed at 8 pm and out of bed just before 8 am.

    I like my sleep ;)

34. Serene and Not Herd

    I claim that my wife’s favorite hobby is sleeping. She’s usually in bed by 9 and doesn’t get up until she has to.

    I need much less sleep, but recently discovered I need more than I used to. When we married, I was often up at 6 or 7 and not to bed until midnight/one am. Now I’m doing good to see 10:30

    My little monkey (2 1/2) has to get his sleep or he’s a terror. But he’s pretty good about going to bed. Most of the time, we keep to bedtime around 7. But last night, he and Daddy stayed up building and playing LEGO.

    We got Town Plan, and it’s an awesome set! It’ll keep us up late tonight probably too.