This is not an all out campaign to end the sale of coffee.
This is not an attempt to explain the health benefits of drinking coffee or not drinking coffee.
This is not to tell you that drinking too coffee could be contributing to your insomnia.
No, quite the opposite.
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Let me explain.
Years ago, I worked the night shift for an airline. I worked in customer service so I had my fair share of reasons why I'd hit up Starbucks before my shift would start. The real reason I needed coffee was because I was typically tired before my shift began. I was also exhausted after my actual shift ended, and well before my mandatory overtime was over.
You see, I lived where I could afford. My $10-12 bucks an hour wouldn't afford a place near my job. No. So, I found a small town about an hour or so away from the company's parking garage and moved there.
On to the next step.
I would take the shuttle bus about another hour to the concourse where we'd meet as a group for another 20 minutes.
Y'all, by the time my shift began, I was extremely tired, hangry, and ready for a mid afternoon nap.
But it gets crazier from here.
We would have these IROP months, yes I said months, when the sky just couldn't stop crying.
Deep down I was crying too.
When you normally worked second shift, you'd be home and in bed before midnight. Oh, but not me. My crew and I were rebooking customers from one end of the concourse to the other. This typically kept us at work 3-4 hours after our shift ended.
And before you tell me, ‘I know y'all got paid’. We did get our time in half and sometimes double time, but at the expense of our sleep, our weekends, and our holidays. Yeah, those were our tough decisions.
Anyway,
We also had “iced in days”. This occurred when our cars were iced in the parking lots. We were required to do overnight stays in hotels for almost a week, but that's another subject we can talk about another day.
But on a normal IROP night, it took cups upon cups of coffee just to make it back to the parking garage. Not to mention the coffee I needed so I could pick up my child from daycare before double late charges began (oh I always had to pay those 🙄). And while hoping not to fall asleep in the Walmart parking lot AGAIN because I had to make it back to work in the next few hours.
And we had to eat!
I said all this to say, when you spend less time frantic, your body typically requires less caffeine. Since I am no longer working there and traveling as much, my body is no longer requiring coffee to keep me focused on tasks.
Our bodies can do miraculous things if we indeed take the time to rest, recoup, and receive new energy daily.
I am not saying I don't enjoy a good cup of joe with some chicory and almond milk, because I'd be lying.
But when we challenge ourselves to become better for ourselves, we end up feeling a whole hell of a lot better.
And that's coming from a Starbucks Gold member since 2015. Yeah, I don't understand either.
Parents, we truly need to take time to evaluate our lives to determine if we are wearing ourselves too thin. I am not saying to quit being the awesome parent you are.
No.
All I am saying is that our children will be more relaxed, more empathic, and more understanding, if we are the best version of ourselves. They can truly experience life in the eyes of a child instead being the reflection of the eyes of a tired, tired parent.
Get some rest beautiful people,
XoXo, The Grow With Teddy Team