TERRORISTS....

Dawn Boyle

Today is the last day, or shall I say hour of school. I have been waiting for this day since late April. It was way back then when I noticed a complete disconnect. My kids acquired this new whine. I have said this before my children should be hired by the government. They would be great annoyance tools to get information out of the "bad guy", I know this because they have been mastering their skills on me for the past ten years. Their specialty - SLEEP DEPRIVATION.

I have not slept an entire night since September 2000. My brain has become so accustom to this practice that on the few occasions where I have been childless for a night, my body doesn't know what to do. I still wake up every few hours. In addition, I can add my aging bladder which now accounts for 3 additional wake up calls during the night. I feel like I could pass out at any given moment.

A few days ago I started taking back my nights. I have successfully (sorta) removed all extra bodies from my bed. I have explained to them that "Mommy" will be way more fun if she gets some sleep and that I am not to be woken unless someone is bleeding, throwing up, or the house is on fire.

I did a little research and have found out some of the things lack of sleep can do to a person....read below, it explains A LOT!

As per WebMD:

In the short term:

• Decreased Performance and Alertness: Sleep deprivation induces significant reductions in performance and alertness. Reducing your nighttime sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
• Memory and Cognitive Impairment: Decreased alertness and excessive daytime sleepiness impair your memory and your cognitive ability -- your ability to think and process information.
• Stress Relationships: Disruption of a bed partner's sleep due to a sleep disorder may cause significant problems for the relationship (for example, separate bedrooms, conflicts, moodiness, etc.).
• Poor Quality of Life: You might, for example, be unable to participate in certain activities that require sustained attention, like going to the movies, seeing your child in a school play, or watching a favorite TV show.
• Occupational Injury: Excessive sleepiness also contributes to a greater than twofold higher risk of sustaining an occupational injury.
• Automobile Injury: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities

In the long term, the clinical consequences of untreated sleep disorders are large indeed. They are associated with numerous, serious medical illnesses, including:

• High blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Stroke
• Obesity
• Psychiatric problems, including depression and other mood disorders
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
• Mental impairment
• Fetal and childhood growth retardation
• Injury from accidents
• Disruption of bed partner's sleep quality
• Poor quality of life