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OPINION

As my two little ones are sleeping, at the same time for once (insert excited emoji), I can definitely say that I FINALLY understand what it means to be truly sleep deprived.

I used to think the equivalent of sleep deprivation was a night out too late, followed by work the next day. You try to make it through your shift without closing your eyes, ingesting as much caffeine as humanly possible, and then when that glorious end time comes you head home and 'fall' into your bed and sleep for a ridiculous number of hours.

In retrospect that was 'cake.'

I know this couple who are about the same ages as my husband and I. They also have two children and waited until later in life to have children.

For arguments sake, I will define later in life as late 20s, early 30s...although Janet Jackson really set the bar high this year.

Anyway, after my first child came along, the husband (not mine) and I got into a conversation about babies and sleep deprivation. Keep in mind that I have known the husband for a number of years.

He joked that all those years we spent partying and playing sports and staying out all night, we probably should have been having babies.

Instead of late night Dennys, we should have considered late night diapers.

I'm just kidding.

Yes, it is true that those having children in their early 20s have the advantage of youth. They are probably better at staying up late for several nights in a row and can stomach fast food better than I can, making it easier to stay full when wrangling children.

But age presents advantages too. It gives a person time to become financially stable and save up a considerable nest egg...okay well maybe some people.

I definitely have more patience now. I've lived a little and I know now I can explain to my children what being in my 20s was like instead of actually being in them.

Really though age is irrelevant. It all comes down to the person and the personality with who fares better on little to no sleep.

I can mourn for the lost days of staying in bed from dusk till dawn or I can get up, embrace the racoon eyes I sport on a daily basis, tie my hair into an unbrushed knot and watch people in Kamloops smile at my children as they pass them in the grocery store.

I can complain about my post-pregnancy body as I reach for that extra cookie because I'm just too tired to cook something decent, and let's face it, I just want the darn cookie!

And even though I'm tired and lay awake wondering what I am actually doing right as I read my toddler books and note everything I am doing wrong (according to the professionals who wrote them), I take a moment to sing my daughter Somewhere Over the Rainbow one last time while my son discovers his hands, and I smile because I have the honour of being their mother.

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