I am, by nature, a night owl. I drag through the 3 p.m. homework hour with my kids, cling to the coffee machine and vow to be in bed by 9 p.m.

Come 9 p.m., a second-wind has swept in from nowhere and I am awake, alert and ready to go. And every night - every, single, night - I am awake until the clock officially ushers in the next day. And the next day, I regret it, but hit the repeat button just the same.

The whole process leaves me, in a word, exhausted.  A 2005 study confirmed that while there are minimum amounts of time that people need to sleep at different ages, that amount depends on the individual person as well.

It seems my internal alarm dinging at 9 p.m. is not a bad thing. My taking advantage of it and continuing on until my eyelids droop is.

And there are thousands of overworked, overstressed military wives out there just like me who are trying to cram the leftovers of the day into those last hours when the house is quiet and, they hope, they can hustle through the last of the day's chores quickly.

Experts say, let it wait. Just go to bed.

No matter how little sleep you think you can function on, most adults, scientists at the National Sleep Foundation say, need a minimum of seven hours of sleep every night.

My five, even four hours of snooze may allow me time to read that last page or fold the last of the laundry, but could cause havoc the next day.  The foundation's studies have linked a lack of sleep to:

- increase in drowsy driving

- greater likelihood of obesity

- increased risk in diabetes and heart problems

- increased risk for psychiatric conditions including depression and substance abuse

- decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals or remember new information

For moms on the go who are constantly being handed new information to handle, or adult students who are studying at night, a lack of zz's could be disastrous.

It's hard to do. I push on until I fall into bed at night. But it has to be done. Go to bed. Just let yourself sleep. It can wait until tomorrow.