Genetics Predictions

 

I had an email from 23 and Me recently. Or at least I clicked the link recently. The email might have been sitting in my inbox for a while before I had time to take a look at it. There was a new genetic report available that would predict my wake up time. Cool.

I scrolled down the page and stared in amazement...at how WRONG they were.

After looking at several hundred places on my genes, they determined that I was a morning person and that I woke up naturally around 7:30 am. Gah!

I'm not sure they could have been more wrong if they'd tried. When I'm off from work long enough to fall into my natural sleep pattern, I usually stay up until about 2am and wake up around 10 or 11 the next morning.

I have all the hallmarks of a night person. I get a second wind around 8pm. I wake up groggy and unable to function until I've had enough caffeine. I have a hard time going to bed after I get my second wind because I'm ready to go. Even on days where I've gotten up early, I can easily stay up until after 11pm without issues. Because nighttime is my time of day.

Mornings? Bah.

When I was a kid, my mom knew not to talk to me when I first got up. She knew to have the fewest amount of lights on that she could. I shied away from brightness like a vampire from garlic. In fact, you still can't talk to me when I first get up in the morning. Seriously. My dad, who lives with me since my mom died, waves at me because he knows not to talk to me unless I talk first.

Um, 23 and Me? You need to rethink which genes you're looking at. Me? Wake up at 7:30 in the morning? Voluntarily? It'll never happen.