Our toddlers fought our efforts to put them to bed — like they were missing out on a nightly trip to Disneyland.
Why are sleep battles a gauntlet through which every parent must pass?
Don’t these kids understand sleep is the newest fad? It’s like Paleo, Master Cleanse and Hot Yoga rolled into one.
Except this fad works.
Sleep is essential for health and happiness, so shouldn’t natural selection favor sleepers? Maybe not the ones who’d sleep through dinner — the kind in which they were the main course. But certainly, those who enjoy dreamland.
Sleep is the ideal wireless recharging system. And with my Garmin watch, I gamify my sleep — how much important REM and Deep Sleep did I get last night? I can even compare my scores with top athletes like golfer Rory McIlroy. He uses a Whoop band and credits measuring sleep with helping him improve both his game and his life.
I value sleep — and I’m a certified napper. I take a twenty-ish minute mid-afternoon nap almost every day. I used to take the LA to NY red-eye because I could travel while sleeping and use a couple of mid-afternoon catnaps to offset the jetlag.
I recently discovered the nappuccino! I enjoy a cup of coffee over twenty minutes, nap for twenty more (the time it takes your brain to absorb the coffee), and wake with a turbo explosion of attentiveness.
Kind of like my toddlers when I’d yell, “Time for bed!”