The Luxury of Sleep

The baby didn't sleep very well last night.  She woke up a few times to be fed and a few times to play.  She looks up at me with that big, toothless grin and I have to smile back and say "go back to bed baby."  It made for an interesting day at work...but I realized that sleep is a luxury.  Not just for me and other new parents, but for a LOT of people in this country.  We run ourselves ragged and the first thing we sacrifice for more hours in the day is sleep.

Parents struggle to find time for work, the house, the kids, and the spouse and sometimes that means staying up an hour extra to get the dishes done, lunches packed, or some cuddle time on the couch.  We wake up an hour early to get breakfast ready, find the "lost" shoes, and have a few minutes to fart around on the computer before the kids wake up.  The world just keeps spinning faster everyday.

This morning I woke up after on and off bouts of sleep all night and readied myself for work.  That includes getting myself dressed and presentable, the baby ready for grandma's house, and getting the breast pump and accessories ready for work.  Now, I should have done that last night, but I went to bed early due to exhaustion.  So it needed to be done in the morning.  I also took a few minutes to check my e-mail and Facebook and send a message to my ex-husband regarding my son's homework he was hiding from us.

Tonight I will probably stay up late working on a form for Alexandria, get the pantry re-organized (since all the food is sitting on my kitchen table), and maybe have some cuddle time and a movie with Steven while crocheting Perry's blanket.

I might sacrifice a little bit of sleep before my 5:30 a.m. alarm (if the baby doesn't wake up first) in order to do these things, but when else do I do them?  And I am tired of hearing "sometimes you just have to let some things go and spend time with your family."  Just how far do I let things go?  I let the yard go when the baby was sick and ended up with a fine and court fees for the weeds by my fence.  I let a lot of things go.  I won't even mention how long it has been since I vacuumed...  There are things I can't just let be.

For instance - the pantry.  One of my darling children (or boyfriend...) spilled honey on one of the shelves.  Then someone set a box of cereal on top of it.  I can't let honey and cardboard stick to the shelf and have things keep sticking to it.  Also, we were at a point in our disorganization that it appeared we had tons of food and no room to put new groceries, but in reality, we have nothing to eat.  Please tell me someone else has been there...  It appears that I "let it go" for too long and now I have to spend an hour (when I could be sleeping) to fix it.  

Also- Cloth diapers.  The baby is almost out of diapers.  And we have a 3-5 day stash...whoops.  Those are in the washer as we speak, and fortunately, I can usually fold them while the baby is awake as long as we play peek-a-boo and she gets to play in her bouncer or exersaucer.  But I usually end up folding them (and other laundry) after bed time.

So yes.  Sleep is a luxury that not everyone can afford.  I have things to do that can't be ignored.  Now, I am sure that a little more organization would help me out and I would have more time to do that sleeping that eludes me at times, but I need the time to get organized.  I have been working on organizing key areas of the house (like the pantry, laundry room, and the bedroom closet) but it has been a slow go.  I can't give up too much more sleep or I might fall asleep in the syrup dispenser at work.

What do you give up your sleep for?  Or better yet, what are you "letting go" of to get sleep?