Yesterday was a Sunday, the day of rest, and boy did I rest.
After a fun morning of going to church, going to a local festival to watch my brothers play in the band and going to our local Cracker Barrel, I was exhausted. Not just from the morning, but the entire previous week, really.
I just started my new nanny job last week; I care for three hilarious little girls from morning to evening every single weekday. It's been awhile since I had that many children all day long, and also awhile since I had to wake up before 6:30 a.m. every single day.
Ever since I became a nanny about two years ago, I grew an new appreciation for mothers. Because their job is literally 24/7. I'm not a mother, but I can empathize. Cleaning up poop all day, feeding, caring for and playing with small children all day is exhausting, exhausting in a good way, but nonetheless exhausting. Especially being an introvert, the nonstop-go drains the absolute life out of me.
On Sunday when I got home, I laid down for what I expected to be an hour nap and ended up actually sleeping for eight straight hours. I woke up thinking it was the next morning actually, super confused and panicky for about 30 seconds.
After I came out of my general confusion though, my next immediate feeling was guilt. Guilt over the other things I could have been doing other than napping (there were plenty of things that still needed to get done for the day). Guilt over not answering missed texts and phone calls. Guilt over "sleeping the day away," because I just felt lazy.
But the more I've thought about this lately, the more I've realized how wrong it is to feel guilt over sleep. I am not lazy. I work all week, and I slept for eight hours uninterrupted yesterday likely because I needed it.
I've come to the conclusion that our society equates sleep with laziness, and that's why sleeping in is so frowned upon, or viewed as indulging. In reality, sleep is a necessary part of our daily routine and about one third of adults don't get enough of it.
Mamas especially need to cut themselves a break and take more guilt-free naps. You are not lazy when you care for small children all day and night, and you are more than deserving of sleeping in or taking extended naps even when there's a mess that needs cleaning or a project that needs completing.
We jokingly say "I'll sleep when I'm dead," but death might come sooner than we think if we consistently put off much needed rest.
I never sleep just to pass the time; I sleep because I need it. I'm tired of feeling guilty for sleeping just because there are other things I could be doing.
But mostly, I'm just tired. Good night.
