Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Day 212 and Getting Enough Sleep

The keynote speaker for the child care conference that I went to last weekend was Denise Ryan, the founder of FireStar speaking. Her website is:http://www.firestarspeaking.com/ She is one of the most dynamic speakers I have ever heard. I was so impressed with her keynote that I attended two of her breakout sessions and then she came and sat with us at lunch. If you ever need a motivational speaker for a conference, I'd highly recommend her.

One of the things that she spoke about in both her keynote and the class that I went to on stress relief was the necessity of getting enough sleep. When we don't get enough sleep, our emotions tend to get the better of us and things can get blown out of proportion. Not to mention that sleep helps our body fight illness. I know that last week when I wasn't sleeping well and had other stuff going on, my exhaustion made it even harder to focus on the positive. All I could see was the negative. Getting out and taking a walk with the kids helped re-energize me and helped me be able to look for the positive. It was probably one of the first times in my life that I was really aware of how being tired was affecting my attitude. So that was one of the most important lessons learned from the conference: get enough sleep!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh i know this is the one i need to learn to do!

Mom Thumb said...

That is so true - sleep deprivation makes me crazy. And you can ask my children, but I was a Nazi when it came to bedtime for them when they were little. The sun didn't go down in Duluth until almost ten in the summer, but my kids were in bed at eight. They hated it, but they got enough sleep! Exercise definitely helps with the sleep, also. Even if you're exhausted, exercise will give you more energy for the rest of the day and you'll sleep better at night.

Denise Ryan said...

Tracy, thanks so much for your kind words! And I'm glad you're getting some sleep! It makes a world of difference, doesn't it? I'm also so proud of you for your journey! Bravo!! Sometimes it's really hard to say no to buying something when there's so much pressure to say yes! I also would love for you to check out my friend Heidi's blog at http://heidirafferty.blogspot.com/. She's on a journey similar to yours in many ways - I think you'll really enjoy her. Thanks again, Tracy!!!!

KiddoKare1 said...

Mandy, how's Sara doing on sleeping through the night?

Linda, it's weird. I've always known the effect it had on the kids, but I guess I've been kind of oblivious to the effect sleep deprivation had on me. As for the exercise, I'm not sure what to do. When I was walking everyday last summer, I felt great. Until I started wheezing. Really loud. All the time. People commented on it. It was embarrassing. Then the Dr told me to quit until we got the asthma under control and I've been scared to start again...

Thanks Denise! I enjoyed your blog and I'll check out your friends, too.

Anonymous said...

I usually get her to sleep about 6-7 hrs straight which is awesome but she doesnt like to fall asleep in her crib. The swing, the floor, my bed, my arms, anywhere but her crib lol Then I just move her and pray she stays asleep :-)