8 Hours Of Sleep?

Perhaps my current sleep deprived state is a good reason to begin this blog entry. I try to make my writing relevant, but sometimes a good, old fashioned rant has it's purpose. Anyone who has been following my blog (seriously, does anyone read this thing?) knows that I have devoted about 3 entries and 2 podcasts to Kevin Trudeau's Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About. I notice a theme in his book that I've seen in many others. It is a theme that I have almost always found to be impossible to live by. I could sooner change my diet completely over to grapefruit and soy milk before I could actually live by this often given advice.

Let me recap. I served 6 years in the Navy. I tend to gravitate toward jobs that require my presence before 0700. OK, my current job is very flexible, but I find that getting in at 0630 saves me a lot of trouble in traffic on both ends of my commute. I'm not a morning person, but this works. I have two small children, currently 17 months and 5 months. My 17 month old has been sick lately, which makes for troubled sleep. He can't just take Nyquil like I can, and I can't really take Nyquil anymore because even when sick I need to be able to function to help my wife out if need be. The baby, of course, is not exactly sleeping through the night. No matter how the kids sleep, I'm up at 0500 each workday. Oh, yeah, I'm also in my "spare" time taking classes toward my degree from the University of Phoenix.

And so, with my family and work responsibilities, and my military background, when I read over and over again in books such as Trudeau's that you should get 8 hours of sleep a night, I honestly wonder who in this country has time to get 8 hours of sleep a night? I would like to take a flying leap with my foot (it doesn't matter which one; whichever is extended at the time) into the stomach of someone who can say with a straight face that I should get 8 hours of sleep a night. I have come to the conclusion that most people who are able to get 8 hours of sleep a night

1) Can't be married
2) Definitely don't have children (at least small ones)
and
3) Don't have a job with enough responsibilities.

I can understand retirees and maybe childless couples who don't watch TV and can set their own work schedules being able to sleep 8 hours is one thing, but to tell an early or mid career family man (or woman, gotta take that into account) with children that they should get 8 hours of sleep a night is frankly a denial of reality. Would you like to come watch my children and keep up my house maintenance while I get those 8 hours?