Sleep
It is with amazement that I write today at the effects of a solid nights sleep. Even with a cold and at the tail end of a mild flu I find even 7 hous of sleep, without interruption, blissful. I am just now able to sleep through the night in the absence of my childrens' needs for the first time in close to five years. Sound unbelievable? There's more, for much of those five years, I never slept for more than two hours at a time!

I have blogged before about sleep and my personal sleep deprivation experiences. For those of you who have not gone without sleep (other than self-inflicted, which doesn't count) because of children, work, or other reasons, I can no longer imagine that blissful ignorance. Before I had children, I truly believed that I needed 10 hours of sleep in order to function... and indeed that was the case. If I did not, I was a bear not to be reckoned with!

Eric was born and amazingly slept through the night at seven weeks... and I whined about that length of time. Ryan brought a once nightly waking until he was 2 1/2... and I grumbled about that. Then Brendan came, my "non-sleeping baby," who continued to wake at least every two hours, even after his sister was born three years later. He grew out of his waking during his third year and was replaced by his sister, who now woke in his schedule. Well, she is now consistently sleeping through the night at almost 20 months... and I am astounded at how little sleep I truly need!