You know that warm, tingly feeling you get when you’re sitting on the couch watching tv in super soft flannel pjs and you’re just starting to get tired? When you yawn and stretch before padding upstairs in fluffy slippers and you slide into bed and slip immediately into a deep sleep? Well, it’s usually not me feeling those feels. It’s usually someone I’m watching on tv as my sleep deprived brain whispers, “that person is about to have the best sleep of their life.”

But things have changed.

I guess I should start by saying that I don’t dabble in medication or even supplements. With most things in life, I prefer to take a more ‘natural’ approach, ie. life as usual, but, like many moms out there, my demanding job, volunteer commitments, advocacy work, and the fact that I have two kids (one with a developmental disability), have taken a devastating toll on my quality of sleep—specifically, my ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Basically, this condition has turned me in to a tired, cranky wreck who is definitely less than stellar at performing the list of things I just pointed too.

 So, is sleeplessness is just part of the mom package?

Yes and no. Of course, we have a packed schedule and obviously, sleeping hours are minimized—but there’s no reason why any mom should ever lie in bed with the lights off, unable to sleep because all of the day’s noise is bouncing around in there. So, when I heard about Dream Water (a blend of GABA, Melatonin and 5 HTP that’s supposed to help you fall asleep naturally, with no drugs) I will admit I was a little skeptical. “There’s no way a little bottle of liquid natural supplements is going to help my up-late-worrying, tossing and turning, wake up once, up for good, sleep pattern” went the dialogue in my mind. OK. So maybe I was a lot skeptical, but my delicately balanced life desperately needed sleep to fuel it, so I decided that I needed to change something and figured that maybe Dream Water would be the answer.

Here’s where that warm, fuzzy, sleepy feeling became a reality for me. After I drank a Dream Water Sleep Shot, I yawned, stretched, and thought “guess it’s time to turn in.” I got ready for bed and crawled under the covers and just went to sleep. Like I used to before my to-do list took over my life and the mental gymnastics I had to perform in order to work out how I could possibly get the kids to school, then one to physio, one to swimming all while juggling clients and their deadlines kept me awake long after lights out.

It took a few nights of perfect sleep to realize how long I’ve been going through the motions of being a live and functioning human, trying to make all the pieces of my life run in sequence without enough zzzzs. So, ultimately, Dream Water didn’t just help me get a few good nights of sleep, it also helped me get enough sleep to get perspective. Enough REM cycles to be able to comprehend the fact that I need to make sleep a way bigger priority in my life.

That means I’ll be turning off the screen earlier, getting some exercise and trying to get things put to bed before I go to bed. Maybe I’ll even start preparing lunches and outfits the night before…maybe. Either way, my Dream Water has a permanent home on the counter, next to my teacup, aka. my daytime support team.

If you’re in the “I need better sleep to function” hole too, look for this magic. You can find Dream Water at London Drugs, Overwaitea, Save on Foods, Coopers, Price Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, and 7-Eleven.

Dream Water provided a sample for me to try, but all opinions expressed are my own.