How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids by Carla Naumburg

Author:Carla Naumburg
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Published: 2019-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Shit You Have to Do If You Don’t Want to Lose Your Shit

Sleep sleep sleep. You must sleep

K

The village is not optional

K

Cut yourself a whole lotta slack

Now that you’re kicking ass at doing just one thing at a time, let’s talk about exactly what you should be focusing your precious time and energy on. In this chapter, we’re going to dive into the other three essential practices: sleep, support, and self-compassion.

Sleep

You Need It Way More Than You Realize

If you’re getting enough sleep and feeling reasonably alert and energized, then that’s awesome! Keep it up. But if you struggle with sleep or you’re exhausted throughout the day, then keep reading.

Regardless of what you want to believe, you can’t actually function on five hours of sleep each night. And no, you’re not going to make up the sleep over the weekend. (Who are you kidding? You’re a parent, remember?) And, in case you really need me to spell it out for you, sleep is most certainly NOT for when you’re dead. (Your freshman year in college called; it wants its lame-ass joke back.)

Sleep deprivation impacts every aspect of your emotional, psychological, and physical functioning. It messes with your judgment, clouds your thinking, screws up your mood, and makes you way more likely to lose your shit. You might as well be drunk, but not the happy, chill kind. You’re the snappy, cranky, unaware, stupid, shit-losing kind of drunk.

There’s a lot of advice out there about how to get more and better sleep, but at the end of the day (literally), just go all paleo on yourself. Pretend you’re a cave person, sleeping in your dark little cave, only with more pillows and fewer saber-toothed tigers. Think about a caveman’s schedule. Exercise, work, intellectual stimulation (you’re a well-read cave person), and bright lights are for daytime. Nighttime is for chill and darkness and activities that do not light up your nervous system. Reading, crafting, playing cards, petting your cat, or working on a puzzle (if you can pull yourself away from it when it’s time for sleep!) are all great choices. Needless to say, bright lights, intense shows, social media, and generally whipping yourself into an anxious frenzy ain’t gonna cut it. Capiche?

Now before you get all itchy and defensive about your nightly Netflix, ask yourself this question: Is it working for you? This is not a theoretical question, I am legit asking. If you can honestly say that you are getting enough sleep at night and that you have enough energy during the day to do what you need to do, then keep on keepin’ on. Drink your after-dinner espressos and spend an hour or two with your PlayStation. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s working. But if you are having a hard time with sleep and exhaustion, then you need to deal with it. Here are a few more ideas to get you started. (Bonus: These will be helpful for your kids too!)

How to Function When You’re Exhausted

If you’re not sleeping well on a regular basis, well, that stinks.

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