On a tip from a savvy movie critic, I took my 7-year-old out to see his second-ever Marvel movie the other day. Since he happens to be a big fan of Norse mythology, his cinematic experience up to this point was largely limited to Thor: Ragnarok, which he sorta liked. We sat back, donning our 3D glasses—he was very into the novelty of this accessory—and took in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. What a pleasant surprise. The movie is, in fact, as my movie critic colleague promised, the best Marvel movie for families.
For the kids, there is a lot to love right out of the gate. There are the action montages, a bright retro-futuristic setting, and a visual style that is gee-whiz superhero cool, but delivered in a distinctly comic way. It is shiny, light, and never feels over the top. The entire cinematic presentation is simply more palatable for kids than most other Marvel releases, both emotionally and cognitively. The superheroes are relatable as members of a close-knit family, but they also play the part of role models remarkably well, interacting with and caring deeply about the public they serve. Even the villain is not so much motivated by pure malice as by an unstoppable appetite for planets that he is actively trying to rid himself of. A little sympathy goes a long way to take the teeth out of a monster. But most importantly, there is Franklin, the baby.
The Fantastic Four are a family through and through, meaning they have arguments and daily domestic issues that are immediately familiar to all kids. One big struggle depicted on screen is the strain and the joys that having a baby brings to, well, everyone involved. I especially loved seeing Reed Richards and Sue Storm, brilliant superheroes with doctorates who no doubt have seen their share of sleep debt, complain about tiredness. Even genius superheroes can’t face the superheroic task that is getting a baby to bed. It is a very real tension that gets the screen time it truly deserves. Just ask any parent in the audience.
Sleep has been on my mind a lot lately. I always thought that I would completely crush the concept of sleep once my baby grew up, but some six years later, I realize maybe it wasn’t the baby keeping me awake after all? I’ve never met someone who doesn’t have a tenuous relationship with sleep. When I was in my physical prime, either during my senior high school years as a soccer player and middle-distance runner or during my marathon-happy thirties, I slept so very soundly. At least that’s how I remember it looking back.
Now that I’m older, I juggle more—so much more—work out a little less, and do a lot more staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night. With age, I perhaps need to admit that I need an assist to get back on track.
I’ve only just started to give sleep tracking a fair shake. I’ve been pairing up a new Samsung Galaxy 8 watch with a Samsung Galaxy Ring, as I’ve been a loyal Samsung man ever since I converted to their Flip phone, which pairs seamlessly together requiring no third-party apps to bridge the gap.
So what have I found from this experiment? That data is, in fact, remarkably motivating. I won’t get too deep into the weeds, but I will tell you that late-night snacks, screens, nightcaps, and lingering work are undeniably bad for my sleep cycle. On the flip side, evening walks, reading, and days featuring lighter fare and more quality workouts reliably lead to more quality sleep.
It is all fairly obvious stuff when you hear it out loud, but what the daily tracking actually does is force your attention onto the problem. Good sleep matters and is, for those of us without infants in the house anymore, a fairly controllable thing. We can actively create habits that help foster sleep. We can choose to prioritize our health and general well-being. Stats don’t necessarily tell us what to do every minute of the day, but they do clearly show what our current priorities actually are.
When my son was a sleepless baby—and he really was the worst sleeper—the only two priorities I had in the world were to keep him healthy, or simply alive, and to find sleep whenever possible. My world is a little easier now, and my list of priorities has grown immensely. I want to be outdoors more, to find new fitness goals, to take on new passions—birding is actually kind of fun, everyone should try it—to embrace a new phase of marriage, to learn new skills, and to meet my kids right where they are in their own development. But sometimes you have to remember the absolute basics. Without good sleep, everything in daily life is significantly more difficult. Only a superhero can truly defeat the eater of worlds on a new parent’s sleep schedule. The rest of us need all the help we can possibly get.