The science of sleep

Disclaimer: I have not taken a real science class since 2002ish. I am terrible at both math and science. But I guess you already read about the math thing. Also, this post isn't actually about science at all. It is about sloth.

I was once told that if you don’t get a lot of sleep for a bunch of years your body will spend the next however many years trying to catch up on those lost hours. This is clearly not true, but the theory was that if your body needs 6 hours of sleep to function normally, but you regularly only give it 5 over the span of a year, your body will “bank” the lost 365 needed hours and try to make it up. The best solution would obviously be 365 hour long naps.

I am certain I have used this photo of Lauren and Marina napping before. It is just too perfect!

Doesn't this feel true sometimes though!? Say you stayed up late on Saturday and didn't get to sleep-in on Sunday. Even if you get normal sleep amount on Sunday night, it feels like you are still recovering on Monday. Which you may be, as this is on a much smaller scale. It does make me wonder though, what about new moms? Do they have a bank of lost sleep hours that make them say things like, “because I’m the adult and you’re the kid.” You guys, they were still tired from the agony that you put them through when you were an infant! Maybe. Probably not. It is an interesting theory though.

Don’t worry guys! I have more on this completely uninteresting topic.

My co-worker once told me about a study that was done where they put people in a house or room or something where they had access to food for 3 meals per day, as well as entertainment and a place to sleep. BUT they couldn't see the daylight progression. These people were just supposed to go about their lives. It was a study on the natural habits of people and our natural body clock. From the study (that may or may not be real) they found that after time, these people were living 25 hour days! Based on when they ate their meals, how their bodies naturally slept etc. They were living 25 hour days!!! That means the real reason we always feel like we are catching up is because our day is one hour too short.

I’m not crazy right? Don't we all feel like we are constantly trying to catch up with our own lives? One more hour to get laundry done, or take a bath, or sleep longer, or linger at Target! Wouldn't that be amazing!? I love Target.

What a stupid post. I don't even care. I'm going wine tasting this weekend! TGIF!