All this material is copyright protected and cannot be used without the written consent of the author.

Have you ever been so sleepy, yet not wanted to go to bed? You know the times I'm talking about. Like when you're watching an enjoyable movie with your husband and you haven't spent time alone together in weeks, but you're completely exhausted. Or when you happen to be cleaning house - and liking it for once - and you're being so productive, yet you're feeling incredibly tired. Well, I'm having one of those moments.

For the past week I've met many new stay-at-home moms on the Internet so I've stayed up late e-mailing them, asking them questions, finding out where they are from, and sharing some of my book with them. It has been such a joy and every night I have to tear myself away from the computer to go to bed. Of course I'm tired. Who isn't when they are seven months pregnant and they are going on several hours a night?!

Times like this make me reminisce about when my brother and I were little. We would be outside playing, catching lightning bugs, or just swinging on the porch and my mamaw would make us go inside and go to bed! The nerve of her.

Or I think about when I was a teenager engrossed in the most wonderful book and, once again, my mamaw would make me go to bed. I frequently took the book and a flashlight under the covers with me, though. I guess it's her fault I have bad eyesight now.

Some nights, like tonight, my children don't want to go to bed. My husband and I are pretty lenient about letting them stay up as long as it isn't too late, even though they are toddlers. For the most part we put them to bed right at 9:00 so if they vary from that occasionally it's not the end of the world. We let them stay up another hour and hop in bed with them. Before Chris and I had children, however, we stayed up late all the time. It is funny how much less tired I was before I had children. I suppose this is because I do much more now than I ever imagined possible before having babies. By 9:00 I'm usually the first one ready for bed.

Well, this week I haven't wanted to go to sleep and thus have stayed up a little later than usual. Dear Chris has been helping watch the children so that I can gather material for and write the chapter drafts that I need to send to the publisher. But I think I've realized something. There are side effects to staying up late.

Regardless of how much I am getting done or how much I enjoy interviewing the other moms, I am tired. My body is tired and my mind is tired. My eyes are kind of droopy and my face is beginning to feel a little numb, actually. I think that perhaps I should just go on to bed. We are visiting a new church in the morning and if they don't know many other homemakers, I would hate to have them think we looked like this all the time! I've learned a lesson this week, though. Perhaps my mamaw was right more often than I give her credit for.

Please give all feedback on this column to the author Sonya Haskins.