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To all the mommas out there dealing with sleepless nights or long bedtimes, keep reading to learn how a pair of headphones and a book have kept me sane.
For starters, I rock and lay with my toddler every night to put him to sleep. Some nights I am fine but some nights I am just crawling out of my skin bored and wishing I could do something other than stare into the dark with nothing but my thoughts.
Especially the nights where we have passed that hour mark with little progress and no end in sight. I have galaxy ear buds but they weren’t doing me much good.
Music didn’t cut it as it was too much stimulation and not enough distraction.
Podcasts are too high maintenance given that there are ads I would prefer to skip and you might need to change the episode or change to an entirely different podcast at some point.
This means that I would be pulling out my phone and shining the light in my son’s room–completely distracting him and riling him up, or listening to something I don’t want to be listening to.
Enter Audiobooks.
I had never really been able to get into audiobooks and truth be told I still struggle in certain situations.
I’m able to follow a book I am looking at and actively reading, much better than trying to retain what’s being spoken in my ear. I often end up distracted and missing chunks of the book before I inevitably give up
HOWEVER, sitting in the dark rocking my baby to sleep with nothing else going on, I discovered an exception.
I was able to follow along and get into the story. It wasn’t just background noise and missing pieces.
What I REALLY didn’t expect… I started looking forward to bedtime. I stayed for longer than I needed to and kept listening even in my own bed.
A couple times I actually fell asleep listening to my books because I couldn’t bring myself to stop when I just had to know what happened next.
I have only used Audible for this but my best friend has used Spotify as well. Audible has a lot of great options and their platform is really easy to use. They often have great deals as well.
Having this outlet really changed things for me in the best way. I became less angry and more patient and there is something so gratifying about finishing several books in a month.
I will be writing reviews of the audiobooks I have listened to so far so stay tuned and subscribe if you want those reviews sent straight to your inbox!