1. After a tumultuous night of non-sleep you can’t seem to recall what times you were up tending to your baby, how many times you got up and if, in fact, you actually got any sleep at all.
2. You wake in a frenzy searching for the baby in your bed, amongst the blankets. Only to realise that he/she is safely sleeping in their cot where you put her after she finished feeding.
3. You find yourself rinsing your hair in the laundry sink, after you failed to wash your conditioner out when in the shower. Or better still, you only realise you have a head full of conditioner when you’re half way through your weekly grocery shop with not a laundry sink in sight.
4. People see photos of you before you had children {and bags under your eyes} and they ask: Who is that?
5. Having a conversation requires far too much effort, and all you can muster is an occasional head nod and an a-ha every now and then. You fear {and perhaps hope} that your friends will cease inviting you anywhere in the near future.
6. You search frantically for your car keys. You look in the fridge, the dishwasher, the bathroom and under the couch. A few moments later you realise they’re in your hand. And have been, the whole time.
7. You arrive {by car} to your destination and realise that have no memory of the trip there. Were there lights? Other cars on the road? Who knows. All you know is that you got from here to there. The scary thing is, you were driving.
8. You spend a good part of your morning calculating how much sleep you had the night before, or in total since your baby was born. When you start calculating minutes, rather than hours, you know you’ve reached an all time low.
9. You get out the door and realise you haven’t once looked in the mirror, or brushed your teeth. You keep going and just hope that you don’t come in close contact with anyone you know.
10. You put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard.
11. You feel a great sense of relief when 5am rolls around. It’s an almost sensible time to get up, and the whole sleep charade is over, for one night at least.
12. You laugh uncontrollably for 7 minutes, and you have no idea what you are laughing at. Life just suddenly became hilarious and laughing just makes things a little bit easier, and a little less foggy.
I’ve only been able to muster up this list since I’ve had some serious sleep under my belt. I’d love to hear your crazy sleep deprived tales. x
Image: Peasap
I can definetely relate to No 6 & 7!!
I can relate to ALL those….I'm too sleep deprived to come up with anything else to add though.
#9 happens all too often. The kids get dressed beautifully every day and then I look at myself walking out the door with them and I look so bad compared to them. I don't even think I get to brush my hair half the time! I also don't fit into most of the clothes in my wardrobe so that doesn't help my look. I have about 2 outfits I can wear day in day out or else pjs never fail!!
Absolutely true, a fantastic summary. I still have many days and nights like this, comforting to know I'm not the only one!
I remember more than once having to stop the car and check that I had put the baby the capsule and not left her at home!!! (She was always there)
i don't know how you manage to do what you do on such little sleep telle.
It's wonderful to know that I'm not the only person that has forgotten to rinse conditioner while in the shower!!
I'm a little bit scared that pre-baby I have already experience number 6, 7 and 10 more than once in my life, and it had nothing to do with lack of sleep!
I had a chuckle at this. Although I am without child, I can fully appreciate your list as I watched my sister (with 2 boys) experience these things and talk to me about them, and I was also witness to many! Mothers are truly amazing to deal with all this and manage to do all that you do! Bravo I say!
OMG is it scary that I ticked all those boxes… the other scary bit is my 2 year old sleeps better than my 4 year old… when does it end – when do they sleep through!!!
Thanks for the great post – at least you know you are not the only one up at 3am.. LOL
Micky
xxoo
Soooooooo true! I regularly forget to wash the conditioner out of my hair after a rough series of nights with the bebito.
I did leave the house with both my top and pants on inside out not so long ago! SO not who I am usually. 🙁 but 🙂 all the same.
A few weeks after my oldest was born I went to the grocery store with a big hair clip holding my bangs (that's American for fringe) right above my forehead. I had left it there from washing my face. And I kept wondering why everyone was looking at me so funny. They obviously could see I was out of my mind.
Hahaha, I'm not nearly so sleep deprived, but I am generally exhausted at all times. Working on baby number four right now and even if I do get sleep I still do these things. Before I had babies, I bathed like twice a day, now I do good if I get to bathe every other day. I have gone from one of those people who swore I would not let becoming a mom keep me from being fashionable to one of those mom's that you look at and say “doesn't she know she's in public?” The answer to that is usually…nope I do good to know I'm alive some days much less where I am!! He he…after I have my newest little girl, I'm going to work really hard on turning that around. Have a great day!!
Does it count if I just say ditto to all of the above?!? Oh how # 6 gave me a good chuckle..thanks! I guess I have one coming to mind now..how about staring at your toddler's bed wondering where the hell they went?!? But, not moving to go find them! And staring long enough to focus and see that they really are in the bed…sleeping. You just could focus due to lack of sleep!
Number 10 I was thinking before I read it! My baby just turned 4 months and he is up twice a night to eat. (breastfed) The first one was formula fed and slept 8-8 at 12 weeks. Life sure is different. I now even brush my teeth at work-sometimes my hair too, haha
How sad, but very comforting that we're all in this together. Hugs! xx
Bob: That's a good one. Or you have a baby free afternoon and spend most of the time searching around for the little one. Ha!
Florida Girl in Sydney: You made me snort out loud! I've done something similiar before but with a comb planted firmly at the top of my head. It's an odd feeling isn't it, wondering what people are looking at. We need a t-shirt with a disclaimer written on it. x
Penny: Number 4! You go girl. xx
Number 1 and 2 were regular occurrences for me – also now I brush my teeth on average every 2 days because I'm always falling asleep on the lounge so just skip the teeth brushing and go to bed… so gross!
Oh gosh I can relate to all of these especially no. 1.
I've forgotten was a restful night's sleep feels like.
If I was not so sleep deprived, I could have written this list.
I can relate to all of them.
Nice to be reminded that we are not alone.