Sleeping with someone else can be hard. I'm not talking about "sleeping" but actual sleep: snoring, REM-cycle, drool rolling out of the corner of your open mouth sort of sleep.
Last week I stayed up late finishing a project for work, crawling into bed at 12:30. Then Maggie woke at 2, Sam at 3, and Cliff at 4 (to catch a plane). When my alarm went off during the 5 o'clock hour, I was just getting comfortable. Predictably, I spent the rest of the day dreaming of a nap and trying to stay reasonably cheerful and productive.
If a new research study is to be believed, it's a good thing Cliff was out of town. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine found that when women experienced sleep disturbances at night, they were more likely to initiate negative interactions with their husbands the next day. Translated: wake me up in the middle of the night, and I'll pick a fight with you in the morning.
Men, for the record, were not more likely to initiate negative interactions after a sleep disturbance. (This may just be because women tend to raise relational concerns more frequently than men.)
So what does this mean for you? Make getting a full night's sleep a priority, and you might just increase the peace in your home. Seems like good advice, whether you're married or single. The article (link below) contains a few reasonable ideas for actually getting a full 8 hours of shut-eye.
And here's the kicker: Women, we can use this to our advantage. The next time the baby cries in the middle of the night, remind your husband that it's in his best interest to be the one that gets up.
(You can read more research at this link.)
No comments:
Post a Comment