“When I am getting enough sleep and I am well-rested, I am the 100 percent best version of myself as a mother. When I am sleep deprived, I am not.”
Today, I am tired. I haven’t slept well recently and today, it’s all catching up on me.
This morning I yelled at my kids, for being ‘kids’… actually, I screamed at them. They weren’t listening, they weren’t getting dressed, they were making a mess, they were fighting … so, I lost it.
All three children cried this morning. I made them cry. Now I feel bad. I feel really bad.
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“My kids were just being ‘kids’.” Image: iStock
“Sleep deprivation happens quickly”
The reason I got so angry at my kids this morning is because I’m tired, not because they were just being ‘kids’. Today, I’m tired, grumpy, emotional, sad. I feel annoyed, angry, unmotivated. I feel sleep-deprived. And I am sleep deprived.
Sleep deprivation happens quickly. Even just a few nights of poor sleep has a negative impact on us.
As mothers, we need to be patient. We need to be attentive, calm, caring, motivated, compassionate.
This morning I was none of those. And it’s because I am sleep deprived.
How can you be an amazing mother when you are sleep deprived? You can’t. You just can’t.
Anyone who says they are the best version of themselves as a mother when they are not sleeping well is lying.
Want more stories like this? Read how sleep deprivation really is a form of torture, just what extended sleep deprivation is doing to our bodies and tips on how to cope when you’re just not getting enough sleep.
“Everything is hard”
When we are sleep deprived, everything feels hard. Everything is hard. I’m fortunate though, because most nights I sleep, really well in fact. Most nights I get a full night’s sleep and so do my three children.
But for some poor mothers out there, broken, disrupted, poor quality sleep is LIFE. Night after night, they go to sleep only to be woken once, twice, 10 times, then it is morning.
There is no reprieve. There is no escape. There is no catching up.
They are running a marathon, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The levels of exhaustion they are experiencing are beyond extraordinary. They aren’t sustainable. They aren’t safe.
You can’t sustain the levels of exhaustion. Image: iStock
“I love being a mum”
To be a great mother does not mean you should or will be sleep deprived. To be a great mother does not mean you need to ignore all of your own needs because your baby or child’s needs are more important.
To be a great mother doesn’t not mean you need to sacrifice your own physical and mental health. Unfortunately, many mothers are doing just that. And it’s not right.
I love and adore my children, more than life itself.
I love being a mum, it’s the most wonderful job in the world. When I am getting enough sleep and I am well-rested, I am the 100 percent best version of myself as a mother. When I am sleep deprived, I am not.