I’m quite a thoughtful person by nature; I often sit up till stupid o’clock thinking, wondering and generally bashing my brain with quizzical ideas, hopes for the future, masses of memories, realms of regrets and anything else that niggles itself into my noggin. As you can imagine this leaves me with very little time for sleep!
I therefore often laze till as late as I possibly can before clambering from my pit. I almost never feel fully rested and am forever tired but there’s very little I can do to ‘switch off’. My mind is a labyrinth of information, I’m never quite sure what’s around the corner and it’s not just at night-time either – I often find my thoughts wandering during the daytime too. Thankfully I am usually distracted enough by work, the kids or whatever else and can switch off a lot easier than during the silence of the night.
I’ve tried all kinds of stuff to wind down ready for sleep: I’ve listened to music (but found that exaggerates the issue), I’ve read books, I’ve surfed the web (never a good idea if you’re the inquisitive type like myself as you’ll be googling all sorts of facts, figures and information into the early hours), I’ve watched television, I’ve had hot baths, I’ve even practiced meditation…Not an awful lot works to be honest. It doesn’t even matter if I’m completely and utterly exhausted – I could deprive myself of sleep for weeks on end yet still find it hard to nod off come night-time – insomnia sucks!
With having bedtime battles of my own, I am therefore very understanding when it comes to my children as they too find it difficult to drift off. E is currently going through a phase of wanting to be with us in our bed of a night-time and whilst I’m all for getting her to sleep in her own room, she’s had a nasty cough for the past few nights so I’m happier to have her in our bed, that way I can prop her up on pillows and be sure she’s comfortable whilst keeping a close eye upon her.
J on the other hand complains of night terrors, I’m never really sure whether he’s actually been to sleep or if it’s just his imagination running wild, either way he’s up and down the corridor for a good hour or two most nights. I clearly remember a few years back I settled on the sofa to watch quite a grizzly horror movie, only to discover that J (who had been unable to sleep) had been sat behind me on the stairs for the majority of the movie. I’m not sure who was more scared by my shocked screams when J quietly coughed behind me – him or I!
It’s bad enough that I find it a struggle to slip into a slumber without being woken by the kids nano seconds following nodding off. Paul on the other hand puts his head on the pillow and he’s out like a light. What I’d do to be like that – it’s a gift I swear!
I’m a night owl by nature, I find I work best of a night-time, though I would love to reverse that and to be an early bird. My Nana would set her obnoxiously loud alarm clock for six o’clock or even earlier in the morning and she’d be up, dressed, have eaten her breakfast, have the radio blasting and her chores almost done before I’d so much as lifted an eyelid. Mind you, she was early to rise and therefore early to bed.
It’s at least 9.30pm before I have the chance to sit down most days and I need that hour or two of adult time to kick back and to relax before bed. Unless I’m poorly, I will usually make it till midnight before hitting the hay. I should really get to bed earlier but I’d only sit there sorting through the endless stream of what ifs, I wonders and random thoughts that run through my mind rather than getting some shut-eye.
I cannot fathom how people go to bed before eleven o’clock – How do they have the time to get everything done? No seriously … once they’ve been to work, taken the kids to whichever extra-curricular activity is scheduled, had their tea, washed the pots, sorted the lunch boxes, washed, folded and put away the laundry, helped with the homework’s, bathed and put the kids to bed, read stories, tidied around and all the other random stuff that we seem to slot into our daily grind – how do they do it?!
On that note, I’m off to get into my pyjamas and to settle on the sofa with the basset and a box set…