Sleepless nights, drowsy days

Some people can get by on five hours of sleep.

I am not one of them.

When I don't get enough sleep, I am grumpy. I am irritable. I am more emotional.

My son, now 2 1/2, was a good nighttime sleeper. (Naps for him were a different story.)

On the other hand, my daughter, now 1, is a light sleeper. Even now the slightest noise can rouse her from her slumber.

Last night she was up and screaming for two hours. I tried to nurse her, I tried to rock her, I tried to put her back in her crib, but that just made her more angry.

Suspecting teething, I finally gave her some Tylenol and lay down next to her on the sofa, and eventually she drifted back to sleep. I looked at the clock: 2 a.m.

I put her back in her crib, collapsed onto my bed, and the next thing I knew it was 5:45 a.m. and my son was yelling from the other room that he wet his bed. Of course he woke up his sister, who shares a room with him.

I find it so hard to concentrate at work when I'm exhausted. Fortunately, I have a light day planned today, so I can just sit in my corner and be grumpy.

I take some small solace knowing I am not the only one awake in the middle of the night. In a recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 60 percent of American women say they do not get enough sleep.

What's keeping us from our pillows? Other than children, not doing enough to wind down at night before bed, for one thing.

To which I say, when else am I going to check e-mail? Fold the laundry? Clean the kitchen?

But I know when I can push my limits and when I can't, so tonight after I put the kids to bed, I will ignore the chores and just go to sleep.