Whoever thought being a parent is easy must be kidding. Yes, a lot of new parents who used to find staying up late a cinch no longer have the strength to say the same the moment they brought their baby home. At times, the only thing that they can describe their newfound occupation is "pure exhaustion" due to lack of sleep. If you feel that you can't remember the last time you got a good night's sleep, then you might be bordering into becoming a sleep-deprived parent. Here are signs that you're starting to become one.
Your usual expressions are "Uhhh, where were we," and "... you were saying?"
Yes, when you're a sleep-deprived parent, you get lost in any sensible conversation. No matter how you try, you can't seem to follow the flow of the conversation, and worse, the person you're talking to sounds like an alien from outer space. You can't understand a word he was saying!
You interchange your pet's name and your children's name.
Lack of sleep can harm your memory. Recalling as to what name goes to who sometimes becomes a Herculean task.
You mistakenly dressed your six-year-old in your one-year-old's clothes.
According to Parents, you might just keep on wondering why the arm of your six-year-old won't fit. And before you know it, a lot of minutes passed before you finally got it figured out.
Forgetting the name of a friend you see at the playground every day.
There it goes again. It is that moment when you're racking your brain trying to remember the name of the friend you see at the playground daily. Then, it came back to you just as you got into your car to go home. Sheesh, talk about lack of sleep.
Finding baby wipes in the freezer
You spent a long time looking for the baby wipes, only to find them in the freezer. What are they doing there in the first place?
Pretending to poop so as to have a short vacation in sheer silence.
Some sleep-deprived parents would make pooping as an excuse just to take a break. When this happens, you surely need to hit the covers soon.
Falling asleep in line.
You experience dozing off while being in line at Target, as what Huffington Post said. Sleeping while standing may not have been in your vocabulary previously but with the sleep deprivation you get from taking care of your baby, it may just be the nap you need.
So watch out for these seven signs of being a sleep-deprived parent. When you start noticing these, better get some rest. Find somebody to look after the baby even if only for an hour or two. You don't want to end up being sick, right?
