What kind of bird are you?

As I have mentioned before, I read every night before I go to bed. Usually I read romance or mystery novels, but sometimes I venture off. Right now I am reading a bit of light brain research. Yes, I'm crazy I know. Richard was picking up books on management and people interactions and I decided to read a few of them. This most recent on is called Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School by John Medina.

I won't go on about the book. It is one of those things that people are either fascinated by or could careless about.

The chapter I'm reading right now is about sleep. Now there is something we are all interested in.... especially if you are a mother, ok or a father, of young children.

The section that popped with me last night was titled Lark or Owl?. In a nutshell it says that a majority of the population falls into 3 main categories... Lark, Owl and Hummingbird.

A person who is a Lark (1 in 10 people) is a morning person. They get up early, are productive first thing in the morning, feel most alert around noon and like to go to bed early. Another interesting fact is larks do not drink a lot of coffee.

An Owl (2 in 10 people) is a night person. They like to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning, given the opportunity would sleep until 10am, drink lots of coffee in order to function. They tend to enjoy dinner the most and find their most productive time around 6pm.

The last group are called Hummingbirds. This is where most people fall. Most hummingbirds lean toward either being more owl or more lark but they can fall right in the middle.

It also went on to say that these patterns of sleep are detectable in early childhood. And, if you are a lark there is a 50% chance at your child will also be a lark.

I don't know about you, but I'm a Larkish-Hummingbird as evident in the fact that I woke up this morning without the alarm before 7am. Now do I think being a mother has effected this.... yes! I've never really been a night owl. I wasn't the type to pull all nighters. I didn't see the need to party to all hours and sleep in until noon. I won't say I didn't from time to time but that was more rare than normal. But, since becoming a mother I've become more of a Lark. I now do most of my chores in the mornings. I often wake up before the alarm and can be found in bed around 9:30/10:00 (reading!).

I'm not sure how an owl would function as a parent unless you put your child on the same kind of schedule. Oh being an owl would be great those first 6 months when you are up doing feedings all night long. But an owl with a preschooler... not so much. I think I'll keep my lark type tendencies at least until they are teenagers and I'm up waiting for them to come home.... heaven help me!