Napping, My Old Friend...

When I was a working wife and mom with Lupus, I would often start my days just as exhausted as I ended them. In my frequent searches to better understand an illness I will have until I die, I discovered the fatigue that is responsible for the frustratingly, embarrassing condition known as Lupus Fog.

Basically, your body is so tired and in so much pain that it has caused your brain to check out. You feel confused, with an inability to form coherent sentences. You lose your ability to remember even the most important pieces of information, even with the aid of memorization strategies. Personally, I have had to stop in the middle of grocery shopping because I couldn't remember what I needed to get even though I was holding a list! The only cure is to use rest to reset.

Now, I thought that domestication would require much less from me than the workplace wilderness. The truth is, if you're taking care of your spouse and child(ren) and home, and keeping up with schedules, and doing all of the cleaning and shopping and laundry and cooking, and looking for part-time work, and home-schooling your child, then you're just as tired in your domestication.

In other words, my not having a job doesn't mean I'm not working. And let me tell you, the work is exhausting! Whew!!! But I get to do the work at home, which means, I get to schedule breaks! And by breaks I mean, naps!!!

For those of you who desire details, here's how my day looks.
 

4:00am :Rise to make and pack breakfast and snack for my husband.
5:15am: Lay back down, now that he's left for work.
7:15am: Get back up. Get kid up. Prepare for the day.
8:00am: Breakfast. I inhale mine, so I can finish getting ready.
8:30am-11:30am: Homeschooling.
11:30am: Lunch
NOON: NAP
2:00pm: Nap ends. Snack.
2:30pm-4:00pm: Homeschooling.
4:00pm: Sitting activities (budgets, bills, blogs, lessons, notes from day). Let's me REST!!!
5:00pm: Get house ready for husband's arrival and next day.

As you can see, my days are packed. What you don't see are the homeschooling activities that take place outside of the house. (I'll give resources and activities I use to enrich the lessons at a later time). You also don't see the slots for laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping. But, you can see the 3 different times I rest. 

I go back to sleep after my husband leaves. I need those 2 extra hours. I have tried to just stay awake the entire time, but I usually 'hulk-out' before the end of the day and that is good for no one. During the official NAP period, I sleep for an hour, and clean up after the morning/prepare for the afternoon for the other hour. My last resting period allows my body to rest while my brain is very busy.

When I follow the schedule and get the rest that I need, I tend to remain pleasant for the rest of the day. The problem is when the schedule has to be adjusted. See, I wasn't exaggerating when I said I 'hulk-out' when I'm tired. I go from cranky to mean in the blink of an eye. There are times when I'm afraid of myself. Then the Lupus Fog sets in, and the situation goes from being scary to dangerous.

The good thing is, now that I'm home most days, I can avoid emotional outbursts of exhaustion. Recently, in my well rested state of mind, I've been observing my friends and family members who venture back and forth into the workplace wilderness alongside having the added weight of their own domestic responsibilities.

They suffer from poor diets, weight gain, irritability, short fuses, anxiety, hair shedding, skin rashes/acne and even insomnia or slothfulness. So, I did some research and discovered the following:

Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

Children need 12-17 hours (infants), 10-14 hours (1-5 years), 8-11 hours (6-17 years) each day.

When you get enough sleep the benefits are quick reaction times, increased problem solving abilities, feeling alert and energetic throughout the entire day, stronger immune system and positive mood.

When you don't get enough sleep, the long-term consequences include weight gain, premature skin aging, inability to cope with stress, increased risk for diabetes, stroke, cancer, depression and Alzheimer's disease.

Clearly, sleep should be a priority. Unfortunately, our capitalistic society makes one feel as though getting enough sleep is just a dream. It's with revelations such as these that I am grateful for the opportunity to become domesticated even if only to reacquaint myself with my old friend, napping.

Signed,
The Newly Domesticated Lady