Sleep before midnight

Emily and Tinker Bell

I have heard it said that an hour of sleep after midnight is worth two before. I don't know where it came from or who said it to me or even when i first heard it.

I remember has a child and a teenager, being very firmly encouraged to go to bed at a reasonable time. I also remember the TV's going off-air after the 10pm news broadcast too. I don't remember how old i was at the time though, very young obviously.

Today i actually think my children, who are teenagers and above are in competition with each other to see who can stay up the lastest, which usually ends up being 3am or even later. The problem with that being that they then sleep most of the following day, then spend the usaul hour or so waking up. They mutter something about not seeing me as i invariably are on my way back to bed by the time their days have just begun.

I believe that the only time you should be awake all night and asleep all day is when you have to work. It is not natural for the human body to work the other way around. Your body regenerates in the dark and the body clock is reset for the next day and according to my daughter and her study on sleep it's not actually good for the body either. I am normally in bed and heading to sleep around 10pm and then i'm awake around 7am. It works for me.

There is this theory about people being owls and larks. Either you like to sleep in or you like to get up, but anyone can get up early if you sleep early enough - honest. The Lord gives us this counsel 'Cease to be idle, cease to be unclean, cease to find fault one with another, cease to sleep longer then is needful; retire to they bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early that your minds and your bodies maybe unvigorated.' (D&C 88:124) The Lord as usual when he asks us to do something always lays out the blessings too.

So we need to sleep early so that we can get up early and be invigorated and ready for the new day. I'm always awake early i don't know if i'm always invigorated though!