Have you ever been tired enough to put your shoes in the microwave? This is my world: welcome! | Nell Frizzell

While writing my book, I asked on social media for stories from parents suffering extreme sleep deprivation. It was hilarious – and frightening

Sleep is a feminist issue. Or should I say, lack of sleep is a feminist issue. During a particularly thickly cut bout of tiredness, when my son was a newborn, I became so convinced that my tiny, milk-stained baby had rolled out of my arms and somehow, unfathomably out of the room, into the night outside that I started crawling along the floor of our hallway, in the dark, sobbing. The fact that the boy couldn’t yet roll over, was in his cot, and the door was closed, while my partner snored like a mechanical digger beside him, could not penetrate the exhausted fug of terror that had enveloped me after weeks, months of broken, fluttering, barely snatched rest.

Whether it’s waking up every 45 minutes to feed a screaming baby, making shopping lists while roasting under the duvet in an insomniac hormonal flush, staying up past midnight to clean the house once your children are in bed, or setting the alarm for 4.45am so you can get your elderly mother to the toilet before she has an accident; the night shift of unpaid, unrecognised and uncelebrated domestic labour is still predominantly undertaken by women. While the Office for National Statistics found that in 2022, almost 4.9 million (56%) night-time workers were male and almost 3.9 million (44%) were female, this does not by any means mean that women are getting more sleep. I very much doubt that it was a breastfeeding woman who smugly declared Friday 14 March as World Sleep Day.

Nell Frizzell is a journalist and author

Topics

I haven’t told my parents I have cancer, as I fear they will say something hurtful | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

The diagnosis may have brought up feelings of anger and unfairness about the care you didn’t receive as a child. Could your brother offer you solace and support?. • Every week Annalisa Barbieri ...
The Guardian - 2d
I adore my children. I’m also scared that one day my son will kill me

In the UK, more than 170 women have been murdered by their sons in the past 15 years. An anonymous mother reveals what it is like to be frightened of your child while desperately wanting to support ...
The Guardian - Mar. 8
Daybreak is a magical time in a big city, no matter how tired you are | Adrian Chiles

London, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham – I have favourite early-morning memories from each of them. I’ve had enough of city living. London has been my home on and off since I came to university in ...
The Guardian - 3d
The tussle between two firms says a lot about the difficulty of getting your baby to sleep safely | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Wildly differing views about cosleeping and products like baby pods abound online. I admire those who offer clear, sensible support. The first night we brought my son home from the hospital to our ...
The Guardian - 1d
My boyfriend wants us to move in together – but I need my independence and his dog won’t let us have sex

I used to struggle with living alone, but now I’m thriving. Should I give it all up?. My boyfriend and I are in our late 50s. He never married and doesn’t have kids, while I am divorced with ...
The Guardian - 5d
How do athletes manage sleep, and how can you improve yours?

For World Sleep Day, BBC Sport examines how athletes get their shut eye and explores the best sleep hygiene tips
Yahoo Sports - 2d
How do athletes manage sleep, and how can you improve yours?

For World Sleep Day, BBC Sport examines how athletes get their shut eye and explores the best sleep hygiene tips
BBC News - 2d
My phone knows what I want before I do. That should be worrying – but it’s oddly comforting | Emma Beddington

On the downside, all my personal data is being harvested by faceless corporations. On the up, I’ve got a little parent in my pocket, anticipating my every need. I awoke recently to one of those ...
The Guardian - 6d
I keep fantasising about living in total solitude in a forest

Maybe your isolation vision reflects a need to escape from the weight of responsibility that life inevitably brings. The question I am a woman in my early 30s and about two years ago, I moved ...
The Guardian - Mar. 9

Have you ever been tired enough to put your shoes in the microwave? This is my world: welcome! | Nell Frizzell

Topics

Related

I haven’t told my parents I have cancer, as I fear they will say something hurtful | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

I adore my children. I’m also scared that one day my son will kill me

Daybreak is a magical time in a big city, no matter how tired you are | Adrian Chiles

The tussle between two firms says a lot about the difficulty of getting your baby to sleep safely | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

My boyfriend wants us to move in together – but I need my independence and his dog won’t let us have sex

How do athletes manage sleep, and how can you improve yours?

How do athletes manage sleep, and how can you improve yours?

My phone knows what I want before I do. That should be worrying – but it’s oddly comforting | Emma Beddington

I keep fantasising about living in total solitude in a forest

More from The Guardian

North Macedonia mourns dead in nightclub fire as 15 people detained

US says airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen will continue indefinitely

Trump and Putin expected to speak this week about ceasefire terms, envoy says

Pope seen praying at hospital chapel in photo released by Vatican

Netanyahu says he will seek to dismiss head of Israel’s internal security service

More in World

Leicester v Manchester United: Premier League updates – live

Body found in NSW bushland believed to be missing six-year-old girl

Body found in NSW bushland believed to be missing six-year-old girl

Monday Briefing: U.S. Deports Hundreds in Face of a Court Order

Electricity gradually returns to Cuba after millions left in the dark