#58 Choose sleep.

Even the harried working parents of small children receive an entire block of time when they are supposed to rest, when they are expected to stop and recharge. Sleep is my last safe place, my only potential for a full eight hours of quiet time to myself, during which no one requires my attention or my care or even my presence.

I give up part of this precious time in order to write. Every morning, I wake at 4am to write until 7am, when it's time to wake Evelyn for school and to listen for Mina to begin chatting quietly in her crib. For three hours, I  sip coffee and write without interruption. I enjoy it immensely.

Except when I don't. You see, when one rises at 4am, one inevitably fights exhaustion by early evening. That means, especially after Daylight Saving Time over the weekend, I was struggling to stay awake past sunset.

Hence, my early-morning writing time has crept forward from 4 am to 5, then to 5:30, and then what-the-hell, this morning I didn't roll out of bed until past 7.

But I feel better. Extra sleep pays off, if not in writing time, then at least in feeling-like-a-human time.