Miles to Go …

Welcome to the January 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Experiments in Natural Family Living

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month participants report on week-long trials to make their lives a little greener. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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The woods are lovely, dark, and deep
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

— from “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” by Robert Frost

Sleep deprivation is part of my business plan. I work more or less full time, but the Critter is in school only part time; ergo, I make up the difference by working at night — and sometimes (often) late into the night. Although I think and write a lot about making my way toward work-life balance, I can’t think of anything else that could throw off anyone’s balance more than not getting enough sleep.

In fact, according to researchers at the University of Chicago, the effects of sleep deprivation may be more than simply dulled intelligence, a short temper, and general sluggishness. As reported in an article by Jane Brody for the New York Times, sleeplessness may also result in weight gain, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and it impedes the body’s ability to process carbohydrates, manage stress, keep hormones in balance, and fight infections.

Off balance, indeed. Therefore, for my week-long experiment in natural living, I decided to see what life is like with enough sleep. Which, of course, immediately raised the obvious question …

What Is Natural?

More and more, it seems, the convergent Western cultures of work and entertainment aspire to make machines of us all, to create an electronic, robotized atemporality that conflicts with the biological constraints inherent in being human. (That it’s possible to regard our biology as a “constraint” suggests how far we’ve already gone in this direction.) Visible fatigue is an acceptable pledge of earnestness and ambition … The only individuals who seem content are the ones who cheerfully announce how little sleep they need, and they are often making it up.

— from “Awakening to Sleep” by Verlyn Klinkenborg

In his 1997 New York Times Magazine article on sleep — or really, on sleep deprivation — Klinkenborg cites the most obvious reason why it is so easy for us to deprive ourselves of needed sleep: artificial light, which alienates us from the seasonal and diurnal rhythms of light and dark. He writes, “We live in an artificial environment with an altered light-dark cycle, including, obviously, less exposure to true darkness and, perhaps not so obviously, less exposure to bright natural light because so many people work indoors.” I’ve long been fascinated by a study Klinkenborg discusses in his article (which, yes, I’ve kept in my files in the fifteen years since it was first published). The study was led by Thomas Wehr, then chief of the Clinical Psychology Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. In the study, volunteers spent the hours from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. in darkness every night for a month or more. In other words, the volunteers were subjected to the length of a midwinter’s night in the Washington D.C. area, where the study was conducted. After about three weeks, a pattern emerged. Volunteers slept about eight hours every night, but the sleep was not consolidated. Writes Klinkenborg,

Each night the volunteers lay in a state of quiet rest for two hours before passing abruptly into sleep. They slept in an evening bout that lasted four hours. Then they awoke out of REM sleep into another two hours of quiet rest, followed by another four-hour bout of sleep and another two hours of quiet rest before rising at 8 a.m. This pattern of divided sleep, separated by rest, is called a bimodal distribution of sleep, and it is typical of the sleep of many mammals living in the wild, which is to say that it is atypical of humans living in modern Western society.

What’s more, writes Klinkenborg, “subjects remarked that never before had they felt awake.” And so I wonder, is all of our artificially supported wakefulness actually depriving us of true wakefulness? What would that be like?

On the other hand, argues Dr. Jerry Siegel at the Huffington Post, let’s not romanticize the past too much. He writes, “Our distant ancestors slept on rocks, dirt, unheated caves or trees. Variations in temperature went far outside our comfort zone, and unregulated light levels, insects, rain, snow, noises, hunger, untreated pain, and predation by ‘lions, tigers and bears’ — not to mention other humans — would have disturbed sleep far beyond what most of us experience in the twenty-first century.”

It seems, therefore, that what is natural when it comes to sleep is unknown — and probably unknowable. Furthermore, I was neither particularly willing nor able to spend fourteen hours in bed every night for a week. So, for the purposes of my experiment, I decided to get at least the recommended average of eight hours of sleep every night for at least a week, beginning on the night of Friday, December 23.

Is Eight Really Enough?

Technically, I never even got to bed on the night of Friday, December 23; I was up past midnight, determined to wrap up a project that had been going on and on since August. But we were at my dad’s house for the holidays, so the next morning he and my stepmom got the Critter dressed and took him out, while Brian and I slept, and slept, and slept … until 9:30! When is the last time I’ve slept that late? I honestly have no idea. And then on Christmas morning, Brian let me sleep that late again — oh, glory!

Except that each morning I woke up feeling sluggish and unmotivated to do much more than eat a bowl of cold cereal. That pattern held all three mornings we were at my dad’s house: Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day. I don’t know, though, how much the sluggishness had to do with my suddenly getting more sleep as it did with my being not so tightly wound as usual. Apparently, I rely on my anxiety to power me through my days.

After we returned to Brooklyn, the pattern shifted. Mornings were no longer a problem, but every night as I was making dinner, I noticed that all I wanted to do was go to bed. It wasn’t so much that I felt tired. It was simply that it was dark, it had been dark for a while, and it was going to go on and on being dark for hours. Didn’t I belong in bed?

A couple nights I did end up going to bed much earlier than I had planned, including the night of Sunday, January 1. But even then, after more than a week of nights of full sleep — or more-than-full sleep — I had trouble waking up on Monday morning. My conclusion: One week is not enough. Eight hours is not enough. When it comes to sleep debt, I’m in real deep.

What Next?

So many things were unusual about my week of — well, if not quite enough, then certainly way-more-than-usual, almost-enough — sleep that it’s difficult to know which aspects of my experience to attribute to which factors. We spent time with family in Connecticut. We celebrated a major holiday. I wasn’t on my usual work schedule. The Critter was home from school. Plus, I was (am) pregnant. Plus, the sun was setting before 5:00 p.m. and rising after 7:00 a.m. Yes, I felt much less anxious and cranky than usual. Freer, even. But yes, there I was on Friday night, sitting on the kitchen floor, crying. (That, my dear friends, is what winter does to me, alas.)

What’s most telling is how I feel now, finishing up this post on the night of Tuesday, January 3, after a more typical night of six hours of sleep followed by a typical workday. I feel … ragged. Whatever I had last week? I want more of that.

Clearly, my business plan has to change, which is much, much easier to see than to work out in theory — let alone practice. For one thing, I need to be making fewer promises. On Thursday, I’ll be sharing what I’ve worked out so far.

What about you — do you generally get enough sleep?
If so, how do you manage it?
If you don’t, what are the consequences — for you,
and for your family?

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• Make your own moisturizer! — Megan at boho mama whips up a winter skin-friendly moisturizer.
• Cold Water Only — Brittany at The Pistachio Project talks about how you do not need hot water to wash laundry.
• Family Cloth… Really?? — After lots of forethought and consideration, Momma Jorje finally decides to take the plunge with family cloth.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle : 5-5-5 Things A Day — Luschka from Diary of a First Child writes about decluttering her home in an attempt to create a gentler living space. She takes on a new project where she sets a goal of reducing, reusing and recycling every day.
• Pros and cons of family cloth — Lauren at Hobo Mama would love to continue replacing paper products with family cloth … if she could only get over how damp she feels.
• Craftily Parenting — Kellie at Our Mindful Life finds that crafting makes her a better parent.
• Changes — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen couldn’t choose just one area to experiment with, so she wrote a long post about all the fun changes initiated in her life!
• Life without Internet: Not all it’s Cracked up to Be — Adrienne at Mommying My Way tries to go a week without the Internet, only to realize a healthy dose of Internet usage really helps keep this stay-at-home mom connected.
• My Progression to Raw Milk — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares her natural parenting progression all the way to trying raw milk.
• mama’s new little friend. — Sarah at Bitty Bird tries a menstrual cup to “green her period,” and is pleasantly surprised when she falls in love with the product!
• Before you throw it out, try homemade laundry soap! — Jennifer at Practical OH Mommy shows visual proof that homemade laundry soap is cheaper, easier, and works better than the store-bought chemicals!
• Oil, Oil, No Toil, No Trouble — K from Very Simple Secret talks about her foray into the oil-cleansing method.
• I Need a Hobby — Amanda at Let’s Take the Metro couldn’t decide which experiment to run, so she did them all.
• 7 days of macrobiotics for a balanced family — The Stones make a [successful] attempt to release the “holiday junking” with 7 days of macrobiotic meals to balance their bodies and souls. Elisabeth at Manic Mrs. Stone includes an explanation of macrobiotics.
• Chemical Free Beauty Challenge — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction turned to natural alternatives for her daily beauty and cleaning routine, with great results.
• Greening my Armpits!? My Green Resolution — Shannon at The Artful Mama talks about how she decided to give up her traditional antiperspirant and make the switch over to crystal deodorants and definitely isn’t looking back!
• Going Raw (for a while) — Jenny at Chronicles of a Nursing Mom shares her family’s experience with raw food.
• Do we get to eat gluten today? — Sheila at A Gift Universe has been trying to figure out if her son does better with or without gluten in his diet … but it’s really hard to tell for sure.
• Hippies Can Smell and Look Fabulous Too! — Arpita of Up, Down And Natural details her experience of going shampoo-free and overhauling her cosmetics to find the balance between feeling beautifully fabulous and honoring her inner hippie.
• Our cupboards are full…but there’s nothing to eat — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud takes on the challenge of chomping through the contents of her storecupboard rather than going shopping — but there’s something that she just can’t bring herself to do …
• Elimination Experiment 3.0 — MudpieMama recounts the messy adventures of her baby daughter trying to be diaper free.
• Family Cloth Trial — Amyables at Toddler in Tow talks about making and using family cloth wipes in the bathroom for the first time.
• Taking a Hiatus — Amy at Peace 4 Parents shares how her experience of much less internet interaction affected her family and how it will change her approach in the future.
• Trying Out the Menstrual Cup — Lindsey at an unschooling adventure ditches the tampons and gives menstrual cups a try.
• Managing Food Waste in Our Home — Tired of the holiday waste, Robbie at Going Green Mama takes a weeklong focus on reducing food waste in her home, and learns some lessons that can take her through the new year.
• Going Offline, Cloth Tissues, and Simplicity — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama muses over her time away from blogging and social networking. In addition, she shares her newfound love of cloth tissues and simplicity.
• The Oil Cleansing Method — Erica at ChildOrganics explores an easy, organic and natural way to tackle skin care.
• Experiments in Natural Family Living – Natural Toys! — Lani at Boobie Time enjoys the silence of natural toys and being more present with her son.
• Discovering a New City and Organic Foods — Amy at A Secure Base describes her family’s switch to and search for organic foods for one week.
• My Experiment in Homemade Bread — Crunchy Con Mommy tried — and loved — baking her own homemade bread.
• Menu Planning: Stop the Excuses — Gaby at Tmuffin stopped the excuses and started planning her weekly meals, drastically cutting her grocery budget and stress level and improving the quality of foods she fed her family.
• My First Menstrual Cup — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children was pleasantly surprised with her first experience using a menstrual cup.
• My Natural Beauty Regime — Christine at African Babies Don’t Cry shares the results of banishing cleanser and soaps from her bathroom, as well as a couple of natural homemade recipes that have worked well on her skin.
• Unplugging and Creating a Rhythm: Our Experiment in Natural Family Living — Dionna at Code Name: Mama focused less on gadgets and spent more time with her family to create a healthy rhythm for the new year.
• Experiments in Natural Family Living: 5 First Steps Toward Preparing for a Natural Birth — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama discusses how she tackled the pressing matter of how to begin preparing for a natural birth.
• All you need is…vinegar! — Kristen at My Semi-Crunchy Life learns that one household product can replace all the cleaners in her cabinet.
• Nope Nada Ixnay Negative Pass Decline — Zoie at TouchstoneZ finds out what shakes loose if she says, “YES!!” to anything anyone asks of her over the space of 10 days.
• Reducing our exposure to toxins found in plastics — Syenna at Gently Parenting Twins throws out the melamine and BPA plastics which have been hanging around the kitchen for too long.
• Duh! — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Momentshares how she began the process of helping her 2-year-old son stop physically acting out.
• Experiments in Natural Parenting: Starting, Stopping, and Gaining Perspective — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings explains how pregnancy brain interfered with her attempts to complete an experiment, but how she gained some interesting perspective as she started and stopped several.
• From Experiment to Lifestyle — Abbie at Farmer’s Daughter shares her experience avoiding processed foods for a month, and deciding to make it a permanent lifestyle change.
• From Disposable Paper to Reusable Cloth – AGAIN! — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle stops flushing trees down the toilet and switches to the softest ever butt-wiping material: cloth.
• Extra! Extra! Water Heater Turned Down, Mom Doesn’t Notice! — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis finds an energy-saving experiment that’s so easy she didn’t even realize it was happening.
• Worm Tea — CatholicMommy isn’t sure how successful her worm bin will be, but she’s having fun anyway.
• Miles to Go … — Rachael at The Variegated Life learns that when it comes to sleep debt, she’s in real deep.
• My Month With Water Kefir — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries experiments with a new fermented probiotic drink homemade in her own kitchen.
• OMG Mom is Home… All Day Everyday: A Week-Long Experiment in Connecting — What a difference a week makes! Ana at Pandamoly is afforded a week off from work and takes the chance to reconnect and reattach with her 16-month-old son through an experiment in simply being there.
• Creating Healthy Family Recipes — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares her experiment with healthy, gluten-free recipes and a chocolate muffin recipe that was created during the experiment.
• Adventures in Alternative Haircare: No ‘Poo — This guest post at Natural Parents Network from Amy at Anktangle chronicles a months-long journey into the world of no ‘poo.
• My Experiment in Natural Family Living: Natural Family Planning — Birth control options are seriously limited for those of us trying to live a little closer to the earth, so Mama Psalmist experiments with natural family planning.

Tagged as: CarNatPar, Carnival of Natural Parenting