Walking Zombies
Do you wake up each morning feeling refreshed and alert? Or do you wake up looking like the professor from "Back to the Future"? Well, first off, you’re a mom. You’re used to burning extreme amounts of energy chasing your child and ticking things off your mile-long to-do list. And you very well may be sacrificing sleep to get it all done. So, chances are, you are definitely not getting enough sleep. Here are 11 signs that you need more shut-eye.
Sign #1: You've found your phone…in the freezer
You also found the milk in the pantry. And you’ve spent 30 minutes looking for the sunglasses that are sitting on top of your head. When you are sleep deprived, your memory struggles and you forget things. This is a common symptom of lack of sleep. Deep sleep, and particularly the REM stage of sleep, aids in retention and supports memory function. So as long as you aren’t getting enough of that sweet sleepy time, you’ll continue to forget what day of the week it is and, potentially, the name of your kids.
Sign #2: You hallucinate
Do you swear you just saw a goat dressed in Victorian-era garb sitting at your kitchen table? Before you compliment him on his waistcoat, maybe you should go get some sleep first. The most likely explanation for your “post-college” hallucinations is severe sleep deprivation. Your mind and your peripheral vision will play tricks on you when you aren’t getting ample snooze time. So to avoid seeing things that aren’t really there, get more sleep. Unless you just saw Chris Hemsworth in your bathtub. Then, well, who needs sleep?
Sign #3: You just cried during RHOBH
And just yesterday, you broke down at the counter at Yogurtland in front of 14 middle-schoolers when you were told they were out of dulce de leche. If you are weepier than normal and feeling emotionally fragile, you are probably not getting enough sleep. Sleep gives your mind, body and emotions time to recharge. "Sleep appears to restore our emotional brain circuits, and in doing so prepares us for the next day's challenges and social interactions," Matthew Walker, director of the University of California – Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, said in a news release.
Sign #4: You just fell asleep on the toilet
One minute, you are running to the bathroom to quickly take care of business; the next, you find yourself hunched over, snoring with your head against that fluffy pillow, I mean, toilet paper roll. If you can fall asleep anywhere, it’s pretty clear you need more sleep. A lot more sleep.
Sign #5: You’re a bi***
When you aren’t getting enough sleep, you don’t have the normal capacity to deal with challenges or even minor annoyances that are part of your daily life. You aren’t able to tolerate dumb questions. Or any questions. And your fuse is short. Your road rage is completely out of control. And you snap at everyone, even that nice old lady at the checkout who talks waaaay too much about her gout. What is totally manageable when you are rested seems overwhelming when you lack sleep. So before you lose your friends and permanently scar your kids and husband, maybe go lie down and sleep, honey.
Sign #6: You’re fighting with your spouse more
When you are sleep-deprived, you tend to fight with your spouse more. You are moody, more easily irritated and less able to handle conflict. And he’s chewing SO loudly and keeps quoting lines from “The Office.” Plus, when you are not sleeping as much as you should, you’re likely staying up late at night or snoozing at weird times during the day. This gives you less bonding time with your spouse. Yes, you are supposed to want bonding time with your spouse.
Sign #7: You have really bad judgment
You are impulsive and prone to making bad decisions when you haven’t been getting enough sleep. Your brain is strained and so is your judgment. You just spent the money you’d started putting away for that sweet minivan on three pairs of ankle boots, two dresses, four jumpsuits, a Jack LaLanne juicer and a stupidly expensive bag during a 3 a.m. online shopping binge. Yep, it’s clear your sleep deprivation is leading you to have poor judgment. You so didn’t need that juicer.
Sign #8: What's that thing we did before?
Sleep deprivation is really bad for your libido. When you don’t get enough sleep, you have low energy and increased tension, which means you probably find yourself choosing zzz's over any form of bow-chicka-wow-wow. When you’d rather be sawing logs than knocking boots, lack of sleep has become a serious problem.
Sign #9: You look torn up
Lack of sleep is bad for your skin. It ages you. It dehydrates you. You look like the lady in the “before” pictures with dark circles around her eyes and a slightly sad face. When you are sleep-deprived, your body produces more cortisol, the stress hormone which breaks down collagen, and it under-produces the growth hormone which is needed for tissue repair. “An abundance of stress hormones can increase inflammation and break down collagen leading to lines, wrinkles and an increase in acne formation,” Minneapolis-based dermatologist Dr.Brian Zelickson said in the "Daily Makeover."
Sign #10: You’re awful at Whack-A-Mole
Your motor skills are screwed when you are sleep-deprived. You have a markedly slower reaction time, which makes you more prone to accidents, and really bad at dodge ball. Probably don’t volunteer to fold 300 origami cranes for your daughter’s cultural appreciation day, or wait to paint those World War II miniatures until you get more sleep.
Sign #11: Wait, were you talking to me?
When you aren’t getting enough snooze time, you lose the ability to concentrate, to focus. People have to repeat things twice. You lose your train of thought in the middle of telling a story. Like that one time when you were … People have to repeat things twice … What were we talking about again? Huh.
