Pre-motherhood, I slept like a rock. I mean, nothing woke me up. Then I had babies and the subsequent sleep deprivation that comes as part of the package. I always thought that when my kids were finally sleeping (mostly) through the night, I'd go back to that blissful, uninterrupted eight hours of slumber.

Fat chance.

Today, I wake up if the cat sneezes. I'm woken so easily, I wonder if I'm really even sleeping. And if I do happen to hit that REM stage of sleep, chances are it'll be interrupted by a small child (or children) or a night-owl husband who stayed up late to watch the big game.

I just. can't. win.

In 2009, one of my goals is to improve all of our sleep habits. I figure if they're sleeping, eventually I will too. There are some great healthy sleep tips for the whole family here, or check out the gallery below for ways parents in particular can ease stress so they can drift off to dreamland with ease.