Night Owl, Early Bird
So, we’re not all about the answers, tips and that here. We also have questions!!! We’ve mentioned a few times that we are so very opposite in so many ways. One of those ways is our natural preferences for scheduling a day. Though we have restrictions (me with the kids, Bald Man with the job) that dictate our current schedules to a degree, our natural tendencies would leave us living opposite lives. Bald Man likes the quiet of the morning and the possibilities of getting an early start on the day. I prefer the settling of an evening and the time to myself in the dark peace of the night.
At different times in our marriage, we’ve tried either going to bed early in the evening together, late in the evening together, or at different times of night. Going to bed early always leaves me lying in bed for an hour or two, unable to sleep, thinking of all that I could still be getting done! Late to bed leaves Bald Man groggy and tired the next day. Going to bed at different times works, except that we can’t settle in for the evening together, which we’d also prefer.
So, I’m asking, what do you do? Do you and your spouse share the same schedule? Does retiring at the same time at the end of the night matter to you at all? Can you not imagine going to bed at different times? Any suggestions for resolutions?
Tags: bedtime, marriage, marriage-blogPOSTED IN: About Us, Questions & Answers
8 opinions for Night Owl, Early Bird
Hsien Lei
Jul 21, 2007 at 9:03 am
We’re both night owls but one is much later than the other. I crash around 12 midnight to 1 while he crashes on the couch probably around the same time then moves up later. I used to just hang out in the living room with him but after we had S, there were so many things I had to get done after S went to sleep that none of us have gone to bed at the same time in years!
Maria
Jul 21, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I am an early to bed, early to rise person. My husband is the opposite. We tend to go to bed at our own times now (thanks to The Boy), but then he tends to the baby during the early night time, while I get him in the early morning hours (when needed). Sometimes we compromise and head to bed at one anothers’ more natural bed times.
Kerri
Jul 23, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Hsien: I told Cory we’ll be lucky to see each other at all in our retirement! I’ll get up, we might get lunch and dinner together, and that’ll be it for the day!
Maria: Thanks for dropping by! Kids do make the whole thing a moot point for us at this point. But we do try to hedge a bit more toward each others’ times occasionally, too. One friend suggested to choose one or two days a week to be together on it. We may try that!
Marriage-101
Jul 26, 2007 at 1:34 pm
We go to bed around the same time although I’m an easy-to-fall asleep kind of person and my husband will lie there for an hour. I’m much more of a morning person than he is and on the weekends, I’ll get up and do a couple of chores or make breakfast before he even gets out of bed.
Kerri
Aug 3, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Bald Man prefers morning time, and I could sleep til noon everyday! Well, not anymore with the kids and all. :) But we did enjoy lazy weekend mornings sleeping in before the kids came. One more thing to look forward to in a decade or two! :D
Emily
Aug 23, 2007 at 6:23 pm
I am an early bird and my husband is a night owl. He likes to stay up till 2am playing computer games but I’ll usually head to bed around 10:30. Lately I’ve been trying to stay up till midnight so that we can go to bed together but if I wake up at 1 he’s always back on his computer in the other room. I know that he can’t help not being tired enough to sleep but I think it’s really important that we try to go to bed together at least half of the time. What do you think?
Kerri
Sep 27, 2007 at 12:09 am
Emily: I’d say I agree, but it’s a bit hypocritical as it’s late now and I’m still up while Bald Man’s sound asleep. We haven’t struck that balance, yet. :(
Tag-Teaming the Croup
Nov 2, 2007 at 8:37 pm
[…] in order to spend a 12 hour-day on site with a client. While it has already been established that I’m the early bird of the house, I maintain 4am is an ungodly hour no matter what anyone else says. Suffice to say, by the time the […]
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