Sleeping Adventures

My plans to bring structure and routine into my day haven't been very successful till now. I decided to take it slow, concentrating on my ONE big project, to bring focus. Next, I decided to structure my day around what I wanted to do, rather than what is demanding my attention. To flag that off, last week, I created a strict sleep schedule. After analysing my sleep patterns for a month, I realised I needed around 6 hours of undisturbed sleep to coherently function.

Perfect Sleep: 11.30 to 5.30 with a 20 minute nap in the afternoon.

Feb 24: Success! I did it. Woke up with my alarm and managed to go to bed at 11.30 I didn't even need a nap.

Feb 25: I went to bed at 11.30 but had to wake up once in-between to tend to Aaru's cough. He had to given water, carried around on the shoulder for sometime before he went back to sleep. I switched off the alarm in the morning and dozed away for an extra 30 minutes. I couldn't find any time for a nap.

Feb 26: An unexpected dinner party with my dearest friends. I wouldn't have missed a minute of it. I went to bed at 3 am and woke up at 6 am. I had to get up to get the kids ready for school. I slept for another 4 hours in the day.

Feb 27: Hubby wanted to catch up 'The Theory of Everything'. We had already missed it the last time it was on theatres. So, by the time, I hit the sheets, it was 1am. I woke up at 7am (my precious 6 hours fulfilled) and napped for another 20 minutes in the afternoon.

Feb 28: The kids were bored out of their wits by the English movie and they begged and pleaded for a Tamil movie. We couldn't refuse them and once again, it was past 1 am by the time I went to bed. At 3 am, I woke up to the sound of retching. Before me and hubby could save the sheets, the job was done. Four pillow cases, a huge double sheet, my T-shirt, Sanju's clothes, the entire bedroom flooring and the bathroom had to be cleaned up after washing up Sanju and administering some medicines to him. Me and hubby went back to sleep at 5 am and I woke up at 9 am. (Thankfully, it was a Sunday!) I slept another 2 hours in the afternoon.

Maybe, routine and schedules are not for mothers. Do any of you, writer moms, have writing schedules/strict time slots for writing? How do you do it? Please enlighten me.