Emotional regulation – especially when sleep deprived

“integration of right-centric relatedness and left-centric understanding comes and goes for all of us, but it does seem to gain strength and reliability over time.” 

Bonnie Badenoch

Ironically, this week we are talking about emotional regulation, and I am somewhat sleep deprived due to our new puppy – Apollo.  This makes me less able to regulate the emotions as I usually can. 

Apollo is now 9 weeks old and up to last week, had spent time with his six siblings, his parents and aunty and the two human carers in the one house.  Life has certainly changed for him over the past nine or so days.  He endured a long car ride home; we survived driving Apollo and I Miss Daisy style.  It certainly must have looked odd for others looking in!  It was such a long road trip for us all and we had to avoid some of the flooded areas.  Needless to say, the first car trip once we got home was a little anxious for Apollo and he didn’t have an adult to settle him in the back seat!

We spent quality time at home for four days in an effort to bond and then introduced him to the office that he is attending with my husband and his staff.  He is pretty happy during the day, however, not so great at night and he especially isn’t keen on the play pen during the day – he prefers to sleep at someone’s feet whilst they are working at their desk (this goes for both the office and home environment).

So, the night training is my domain and whilst I am a little sleep deprived – I am trying to keep my emotions in check (especially when getting up between midnight at 4 am).  I am trying not to take the sleep deprivation personally and am also attempting to ensure that I am not letting Apollo get into some bad habits during the early morning alarm calls.  It is difficult to maintain boundaries, when not feeling your best and it reminds me of when our children were younger and doing whatever we could to survive!  Unfortunately, the breed that Apollo is, will take advantage of any of our lapses.  He is slowly getting used to the play pen and crate – hoping this improves over time.

To make up for the lack of sleep, I need to ensure that all the other self-care options are being kept; mindfulness, some exercise (I could always do more), eating well, keeping hydrated, attending my weekly mosaic classes (where possible) and getting as much sleep as I can.  I have started to go to bed earlier in an attempt to get what sleep I can.

During this period of broken sleep, I need to ensure that I am aware that my emotions may be a little out of sorts.  This awareness will hopefully allow me to regulate more effectively and avoid damaging my important relationships due to being frustrated and tired.

And as a bonus – last night he managed to sleep through the night!  Hoping this trend continues?