When I actually sleep through the night, I feel like a human being. When I don’t, I feel like I need to eat carbs and drink caffeine continuously throughout the day in order to get through even the most mundane tasks. It used to be if my children slept through the night, I felt half-way human. Rolling into the office on four hours of sleep was a norm, so Ibuprofen and tea were my best friends. (Not so good for my health, hence why I chose the independent consulting route, although I still like to consider tea my BFF, after my husband, kids, dog, and dearest family and friends.) My hormones recently turned 40 too, causing me to experience random bouts of hormone-induced insomnia. When I do sleep, it’s glorious. I’m talking about 6 ½ straight hours. Nothing major, just uninterrupted sleep. Sleep without being awakened by my kids.  Sleep without making that ubiquitous mommy list at 1 a.m., circa Sarah Jessica Parker. Sleep without freaking out about how much I need to do the next day or stressing that I’m going to be too tired to do it. Sleep without glancing at the clock at 12:13 a.m., 1:23 a.m., 3:02 a.m., 4:02 a.m. and counting how many more hours I can sleep without oversleeping and forgetting to get up in time for get my kids ready for school. I once slept until 7:52 a.m. and was the ONLY person up in my family. (This NEVER used to happen when the kids were little. They would run into our room at the crack of you know what and get me out of bed. I loved seeing their little bodies jump in the middle of our bed, but didn’t look forward to the exhaustion that followed.) Now that they are older, 7 and 10, they tend to sleep later, which is a blessing and a curse. Basically, this means if I don’t get up, no one else does. (Including my husband, who has a gift of being able to fall asleep instantly.)

What are some favorite things (not necessarily productive) that you like to do when you have kid-free moments? Please note that working, food shopping , folding laundry, exercising and ironing are not allowed on this list, girls!

Some of my favorites:

• Going to the pharmacy and wandering the magazine aisle aimlessly.
• Watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix (one of my friends claims she has  taken this up as a new hobby, in place of reading.)
• Going to lunch with girlfriends.
• Driving around and playing my music on the radio, and not KidzBop songs.

I turned 40 this year. Aside from the back fat and bloated-beyond-belief-belly rolls, I actually love it. My new mantra is, “F-it, I’m Forty.” I’m done caring what everyone else thinks of me. If you’ve reached this age bracket, I highly recommend repeating those words once told by another mother who knows her you-know-what, “F-it, I’m Forty.” It’s amazing what self-confidence can do for your complexion. Then again, I still get an occasional zit. What’s up with this? I use night cream now, for crying out loud. Expensive night cream that’s supposed to help with imperfections. My daughter makes me feel great. Nearly every morning she says to me, “Mommy, you’re so pretty. Even when you wear glasses.” I want to bottle these words and keep them forever. She has no idea that I have a pimple forming on the side of my nose. Probably the worst place to try to cover it up. I want to know, am I alone? Do you still get zits? Clearasil is no longer in my vocabulary, but I have tried natural remedies like combining lemon juice with toothpaste and dabbing the mixture over a blemish. It works.

Another observation I made when my daughter was four: There was a time when I found myself vicariously shopping through my daughter as a way of making up for the way I dressed as a child. OK, maybe I did this again last week. But I always look for sales and I try not to spoil her – I just don’t want her to be caught in a polyester pantsuit on picture day. I realize that doing this will never make my own 1970’s bell-bottom disasters disappear, but it hopefully will give my daughter some sense of reasoning when she gets older and starts making fashion decisions on her own. I think she’s naturally talented, actually. At three, she’d turn a t-shirt into a night skirt and a tank top into a belt, without even thinking about it. It’s been fun to watch. She pairs polka dots with stripes and drapes herself in beaded necklaces – think Mrs. Roper meets Fancy Nancy. I look forward to seeing what she can do in her teens – on the other hand, let me just enjoy this time, soak it up, and stay in denial a little longer.

In my 30’s I watched Dawson’s Creek. NONE of my friends watched it. And I mean none. But guess who is married to Tom Cruise? That’s right, one of the show’s biggest stars, Katie Holmes. I also watched Melrose Place and 90210. OK, I confessed. Now it’s your turn