How could you possibly be patient? Or fun? Or supportive? Or curious? Or attentive ….when you’re dead tired?

It’s impossible. 

So what exactly are you doing on your phone, scrolling through TikTok or tweets at 11pm? You should be asleep!

Of course, nothing messes with our sleep quite like having kids. From the jump, they are waking up in the middle of the night and then, as they get older, piling so much on our plate—from morning swim practices to schools that start at 7am—that we barely have time for ourselves, let alone to get a full eight hours of sleep. 

Yet…we must. We must figure out a way. We can’t be what our kids need us to be without it. 

You sleep trained your kids. You endured nights of crying and screaming and desperate calls to Mama and Dada, because you knew how important it was for your kids to get good, regular, uninterrupted sleep. Now you have to sleep train yourself. You have to practice, as they say in the military, good sleep discipline. No procrastinating before bed. No phone by the bedside table. No falling asleep with the TV on. Follow the advice of the classic kids book: Go the F*ck to Sleep! 

Prioritize sleep. Take it seriously. The more well-rested you are, the better a parent you will be. 

P.S. If you haven’t read Go the F*ck to Sleep, you should! You can pick up a copy at Ryan’s bookshop The Painted Porch and support indie retail by picking it up online too!