Sleep deprivation

I was rather rude to a certain someone this morning. Sorry Certain Someone. But despite my contrition I'm really rather fed up. I LOOOVE sleeping. Bedtime is my favourite time of day for many reasons, but the best part of it is that lazy roll-over at 3 am when a glance at the alarm clock tells me there are still many more hours of snoozing to go. Bliss!

So imagine my discontent that Certain Someone each morning awakes anywhere between 4 and 5 thirty am EVERY MORNING and just has to wake me too, has to ruffle my hair, make sure I'm well and truly awake and chat to me about their forthcoming day.

Now, who wouldn't like listening to an earful of deck-building/plastering/shed erecting plotting and planning at that hour? But the real problem is that Certain Someone then falls back into a deep and contented slumber, leaving me fully awake, grumpy and very tired..... that peaceful slumber only lasts around an hour.... which is how long it takes me to get back to sleep and then the ritual begins again.

Now in my opinion if a Certain Someone wants to chat about the coming day then he should do it at 9pm instead of snoring in front of the T.V! No wonder he is awake so early!

I feel very strongly about sleep and really believe it's an undervalued, precious thing and, along with several other bodily functions of course, one of the best bits about being alive! I used to believe I was unusual in needing a good solid 8 hours of slumber each night, but now I realise that is not the case at all. Now I see I am unusual in that I prioritise that 8 hours and haven't become accustomed to being sleep deprived like much of our society.

Why is it that we attach so little importance to sleep and allow our lives to become so hectic that such an important thing becomes so low a priority?

Here is what Mr Wikipedia has to say about it:
"Sleep deprivation, having too little sleep, can be either chronic or acute. Long-term sleep deprivation causes death in lab animals. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight gain"

It also lists these as some of the effects of sleep deprivation...

1 Physiological effects
1.1 Diabetes
1.2 Effects on the brain
1.3 Effects on growth
1.4 Effects on the healing process
1.5 Impairment of ability
1.6 Obesity

So, given my feelings on this subject when Certain Someone allowed his alarm to go off every 8 minutes for an hour from 6am this morning then to hold a telephone conversation, loudly, with the lights on, I was not best pleased to say the least!

So, sorry for being rude this morning, but please, let me rest and save sleep deprivation with it's depression, lack of healing, obesity and maybe death for my child rearing years!