Sleep, where are you??

I have always been a firm believer of routine with my children. On school days I wake them up at the same time, they have meals at certain times (give or take half hour) and they go to bed at the same time every day. This may not work for everyone but it works in our household.

At bed time the kids go to bed in age order, from youngest to oldest. Layla is first at 6.15pm, Gracie is next at 6.30pm, then Freya at 7pm and lastly Elise at 7.30pm, this means they are all getting atleast 11 hours of sleep each night.

Most mornings they wake up happy and refreshed and I always find myself wishing I could wake up feeling the same. Instead I will wake up with a grumpy face and you probably won't get a proper conversation from me for atleast half an hour after that, caffeine is my friend. People always tell me how smiley I am in the mornings and how I look so awake, let me tell you make up works wonders, you would not want to see my morning face, think scary movie!!! Now if only I could have that afternoon nap, well if the baby is allowed too.....

Now I am my own worst enemy, I know if I were to get more sleep then I probably would wake up in a slightly better mood, not too much better though because lets be honest, as adults we know mornings really suck. This is is where the problem lies, I have always had a huge problem with falling asleep.

A normal night will see me going up to bed with Daddy Hazelden around 10pm. He is the complete opposite to me and has no problem with falling asleep, literally as soon as his head hits the pillow, he is out like a light, snoring VERY loudly. I am his opposite, it can take me a good hour to drop off to sleep, I find myself clock watching, it is like my brain won't shut down, this is my first hurdle.

The second hurdle, I can't seem to ignore the snoring, I don't want to wear ear plugs for fear that I a) wouldn't hear the kids b) I wouldn't hear the alarm in the morning, but what else can I do to drown out the dreadful noise??

The third hurdle, well that would be me. I am a massive book worm, I read atleast 5 books a week, I am one of these people that can't put a book down once I've started it. This can see me sitting up until 2/3 in the morning because I just have to finish it and with Daddy Hazelden's alarm going off at 5.45am I am left with minimal time to sleep.

And the fourth hurdle, I am a really light sleeper. This means that any noise wakes me up and then I am back to the initial problem that it takes me an age to get back to sleep, then I start listening to the snoring, oh and then I'll pick up a book in hopes that I will get sleepy. You get the idea, bit of a viscious circle sometimes.

It all has me wondering, dangerous thing that!! If I were to get myself into a routine like the kids, do you think that eventually I would settle into being able to just fall asleep instantly, could I train myself to sleep well?? Daddy Hazelden seems to think not, he thinks this is just how I am and that I can function on little sleep, in a way he is right because I do just get on with my day regardless of how much sleep I've had but I just always find myself needing to catch up on that missing sleep.

So what about you lovely readers, do you get a good nights sleep, do you have a bed time routine yourself, any top tips for a sleepy mum??

xxxx