More Meanderings : )

After another abysmal sleep I am once again having an energy deficit, that even my morning cup of joe could not remedy. No matter, I decided that enough is enough and finally saw my Doc about my insomnia. I am sleep deprived and I am feeling it big time!!! I have lived with this far too long and thought eventually it would just work itself out...NOT!! I have written so many articles on the importance of sleep for our children, but if we as parents and caregivers are not getting enough precious zzzzzzs than that is going to affect how we parent our children big time! We will not have the patience to deal with them and may say things without thinking or even worse - not good. Being a parent is stressful at the best of times, but trying to parent without adequate rest is a disaster waiting to happen.

So anyway my Doctor has prescribed a limited amount of sleeping tablets to help me get a few nights of adequate sleep, so I can have enough energy to start a regular exercise routine which may be just the ticket to get me back on track. As it is now I barely have the energy to get through the day let alone go for a walk or jump on the treadmill. Everything is such a flipping effort!!!! So with that said I am going to call it a day with the blog as I have once again fulfilled my writing quota and blogged for thirty minutes as planned.

I believe once I get my sleep back on track I will be able to come up with some better topics and hopefully my writing will also improve. For now it is what it is!

I am off to pick up my son from school and grin and bear it through the rest of the day, until I can pop a pill and hopefully experience a full nights sleep - so looking forward to feeling human again.

Happy sleep ahhhhhhh,

Monicka

Ahhhhh Sleep

Well, it is day four of the blogging challenge and as I promised myself and a few other people, I am here fulfilling that promise - so far so good! The problem with writing a daily blog is coming up with a topic that is relevant to kidsgoals and interesting enough to anyone else who may stumble upon my blog whilst surfing the web. That is kind of what I am struggling with now as I write this. I will usually hear something on the telly that gives me a bit of food for thought or discuss an article I had recently read, but alas, nothing comes to mind. I guess I could talk about how happy I am to get the newsletter out on time. I was struggling with it a bit as my energy was quite low due to a bout of insomnia that has been plaguing me for about two weeks now. I was still bound and determined to get it out on time but as I go over it this morning I realize I missed a few blatant typos! Oh well, I can blame it on my sleep deficit and try to do better next time.

Fortunately, I had a much better sleep last night and can feel a big difference today in my clarity of thought, my mental outlook and even feel like I might have enough energy for a workout - another area in my life that has been sorely lacking lately. What a change from the last few days, where I was starting to feel like there was this big, black cloud hanging over me. How can a few more hours of zzzzz's make such a difference? This makes me think about the importance of sleep for our children and if they getting enough to be able to function properly in school.

According to a recent article I read on Web MD children age 3-6 need 10-12 hours a day, age 7-12 need 10-11 hours a day and 12-18 need 9 hours a day. I don't know about you, but I can pretty much guarantee that my fourteen-year-old son (even with my persistent nagging) is lucky to get 7 hours!! How can we expect our children to thrive when they don't get the optimal amount? I know full well how horrible I felt and how day to day activities became really difficult. For instance it took me five tries to put my cheque in the instant teller and because I was in such a brain fog, I filled my tank up and left the station with my gas cap off, wide open and drove away. Makes me wonder if I should have even been driving in the first place!

Have a look at how many hours of sleep your kids are getting and you may find they need a bit more in order to feel and be at their best. I know some kids can function perfectly well with a little less sleep but this will give you a general guideline if you are concerned your child may not be getting enough restorative sleep.

Happy Parenting,

Monicka

Sleep and Success in School

Getting a good night's sleep is a key success factor to help your child do his best in school.

One of the really KEY elements in having your child sleep well is to restrict any exposure to screens after a certain time in the evening. An absolute MINIMUM of one hour before bed where no PC or TV is allowed is essential if you want your child to get the best possible sleep.

Screen work does not just have a bad effect on sleep because it is interesting and keeps your child awake because he's enjoying the film or the computer game. The frequency of light from a screen causes brain alertness on a fundamental level and will reduce the quality of sleep if a child is exposed to it close to bed time.

Happy sleeping and school success!

Cassie

Brilliant Solution to Child Sleep Problems

How about this charming story a KidsGoal's subscriber shared with us, regarding her solution to the "MOM! DAD! I can't sleep!" problem?

Shelly, aged 4, started insisting on her parents staying with her until she fell asleep after her big sister moved into a room of her own.

Soon growing tired of this routine, they came up with a rather unusual solution, in the form of a goldfish. A charming little aquarium was installed, and Nemo the Goldfish moved in onto Shelly's dresser. As an extra bonus, the fish tank had uplighters that helped Natalie feel reassured in the dark.

Not only did this ingenious idea solve the family's nighttime problems, but being responsible for Nemo taught Shelly lots of useful lessons, as pets do!

Check out article, The Family Pet, for more ideas.

Happy parenting :))