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" It was the first time in six years I woke up and wasn&amp;#039;t in a fog. My 4-year-old daughter, Samantha, didn&amp;#039;t sneak into my room and blare, &amp;quot;Mommy, wake up!&amp;quot; until 10 a.m. All three of my children slept through the night. I was in bed before 10 p.m. Could life get any better? And the night before was New Year&amp;#039;s Eve. I sang High School Musical karaoke with Samantha and watched 17 kids run around my friend&amp;#039;s house with horns, party hats and tiaras as we wacky parents counted down to 2008 (just four hours shy of midnight). So while many woke up hungover, I opened my eyes clear-headed to the aroma of hazelnut coffee and French toast (yes, dear hubby cooks), and in my head I caught myself singing &amp;quot;The Hills Are Alive&amp;quot; more effervescently than Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, (because let&amp;#039;s face it, Maria took care of seven kids and sewed play clothes in her spare time). How different the day looks when I&amp;#039;ve slept. I had energy. I had ideas of things I wanted to accomplish that weren&amp;#039;t even on my unfinished to-do list from &amp;#039;04. I&amp;#039;d work out, clean the basement, learn how to cook, balance my checkbook and transfer my chicken scratch notes to the kids&amp;#039; baby books. What a new year indeed!  After my hearty breakfast, I help Josh and Samantha into their snow pants for sledding, rock Ariana to sleep for her nap, do a couple of loads of laundry, fill the dishwasher, gather up the toys and trinkets that cover the den floor, and I can&amp;#039;t help but smile. Sure, I have problems and my share of cranky moods, but with this one good night&amp;#039;s sleep I can put everything into perspective and see all that I have to be thankful for. And it only took six years to get that full night of slumber. Imagine what I&amp;#039;ll get done in 2014.\u2014Julie Weingarden Dubin Does getting a good night&amp;#039;s sleep affect your day? Got any tips for a frazzled mama trying to get the sleep she needs? Share your thoughts in Comments. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a41225/i-can-see-clearly-now-6068/>