Yes. Sleep is that good.

I think we can all agree that a lack of sleep makes for a moody mama. Miss Grumpsville. But did you know that according to a study done by Harvard Women’s Health Watch chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates? Did you know that chronic sleep deprivation may alter the level of hormones that affect our appetites? Weight gain and messed up metabolism from a lack of sleep. It has nothing to do with you sitting around on the couch all day and eating bon-bons. It’s from sleep deprivation. Good to know.

But what to do about it? Desperate moms have a lot of bon-bons to eat which doesn’t make time for much sleep, right? First let me just say that if you have a newborn . . . good luck with this one. But the good news is that your situation is temporary. At some point your baby will sleep more and eat less during the night time. Hang in there mama. The rest of us desperate moms might have the opportunity to sleep sometimes and we need to try it out.

So here’s an idea. Sleep in at least once a month. For those of you who have forgotten what that means . . . it’s when you sleep until your body wakes up. Without a baby cry waking you up. Without a toddler shoving chap stick in your face as a wake up call. I know most of us are probably all messed up from all the lack of sleeping in. Your body naturally wakes up really early. If you cannot actually sleep, stay in bed. Pray. Read a book. Take your time getting out of bed. Arrange with your husband ahead of time so he can get up with the kids and try to keep them quiet while you are dreaming about bon-bons. If you are a single mom, see if you have a friend or family member who could help make this happen. Maybe not every month, but

get a “sleep in” on the calendar for some time in the next 30 days. You will so look forward to it. Just try not to get so excited that you can’t sleep the night before. That would be really funny and ironic and we could make a blog post about it.

See you next month!