First of all, let's get this out of the way. No matter how much I'd like to say it is for a logical reason and I'm only doing it this way because I feel it is beneficial for everyone, I can't say it is just that. Getting up in the middle of the night sucks, plain and simple. If I can get away with not doing it, I'm happy not to.
Also, I realize that Sarah is taking the brunt of the work. I am helping by staying up and taking the 11:00 feeding, but it is much easier to do that, than to wake up 4 times at 3:00 in the morning. No arguments there.
However, here are some of my arguments for taking the easier of the two time slots.
1) I have the main bread-winning job in the family.
It is also a career job that I hope to advance in over the next decade. My advancing in this job is important to my family and our future. We would like to be able to get a better house in the future and hopefully help to pay for college for Isaiah, Micah, and any other children we hope to have. In order for me to advance in my job, I have to be alert and be able to function. While most people accept that people with young children are not going to be as well rested, that only goes so far. In the end they expect you to do your job and do it well. And if you want to get a bigger check at the end of the year, you had better do better than even they expect. This means that I need to be the more rested of the two of us. Sarah works her butt off at being a mother of two, as well as working at 2 other jobs, but in the end, they are part time jobs that supplement our checkbook, not support it.
Let me be clear that we could not make it if it weren't for the money that Sarah pulls in, but the priority when it comes to scheduling many things in our family life has been my job and making sure that I am meeting my obligations to Milwaukee Valve, then scheduling other things.
2) It might not seem like it at 3:00 in the morning, but with my staying up later, and waking up earlier for work, the difference in the amount of sleep we are getting isn't that much different.
On average, I figure I get a little over 6 hours of sleep a night. If Sarah goes to bed at 10:00 and gets up at 6:30, she needs to be up for at least 2 hours to compensate for the difference.
There are a few caveats to this argument. First, Sarah is now subbing again and wakes up early with me. That eats up some of the time difference. Also, sleeping for 6 hours straight let's you feel much more rested than sleeping for 8 hours, but having to wake up regularly. Also, Sarah has always needed more sleep than me. She's always been the napper. However, the math is there in front of you.
3) It works for us.
We found with Isaiah that this arrangement seems to work well. We both lose a little sleep, but neither of us takes the full brunt.
So, let me have it. Anyone who knows me, knows that I like to debate. So let me know how you feel about my opinion on this subject. Please keep the name calling to a minimum.
