Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sleep

Ever since I was a young girl, I've loved to sleep in. This was great during the summer, but not so much during school. It used to take my Dad marching into my room to wake me up, and sometimes my two brothers would threaten to pour water on me. They actually did a few times and thus, witnessed the Wrath of Melissa. Not a good thing.

Yesterday my daughter was ill with a stomach ache, so I stayed home from work. We both crashed on the couch and slept for four hours. And I loved it.

I look forward to Saturday mornings because I get to sleep in. On the days I have to get up, I set the alarm clock fifteen minutes fast, then set it to go off earlier than I need to get up so I can hit snooze several times. My husband is baffled by this behavior. "Why don't you just get up when the alarm goes off?" I have no explanation for him, other than I have hardly ever done that in my life. Guess it's just a habit.

It's not that I don't love early mornings - when I actually do have to get up for one reason or another, I love the brilliance of morning. The air is crisp. Everything is in sharp focus. Yet I will not go out of my way to get up to experience this. I am a night person, through and through. My grandmother is the same, and so is my mom, so maybe this is hereditary, I don't know.

What I do know is that I am growing frustrated with my love of sleep. I don't want to sleep as much as I do. There are things to do! Scenes to write! Books to read! Why waste time on sleep?

But am I frustrated enough that I will give up my Saturday sleeping-in ritual? Doubtful... :-)

8 comments:

  1. Get up when the alarm goes off? Is he mad? That would be a *terrible* shock to the system. I have to hit snooze at least 3 times. And I adore sleeping in on Sundays.

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  2. I told him the same thing, Shirley. He never sleeps in, either!

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  3. For so long I never slept later than six on the weekdays and was up by eight on the weekends at the latest. But it's all flipped upside down on me. If I could, I'd wake at noon and stay up until five. Somehow though, I feel like I'm missing out and wasting time. I am trying to get back to a more normal schedule, but it's tough. I love the hours after midnight -- so quiet, but my brain isn't working nearly as well as I suspect it would earlier. *Sigh*

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  4. Anonymous9:17 AM

    too bad that 4 hours isn't a normal sleep amount. Think of how much we could get done!!

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  5. I have the same kind of relationship with my snooze button, though when behind I have gotten up two hours earlier than normal just to write but I can only do that for a few weeks at a time.

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  6. Anonymous5:20 AM

    I LOVE sleep! If it were an Olympic event, I'm fairly certain I could bring home gold. With this new puppy, though, I'm missing a few hours a week and really feeling it.

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  7. I think the whole "setting the clock fast" is a very female thing that men just don't get.

    Though I love to sleep, I also hate getting up much past 8, unless I've had a particularly bad night. Especially in the summer - I just love summer mornings.

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  8. Lisa, I feel the same way - like I am missing out on life if I sleep all morning. It is not unknown for me to sleep until noon on the weekends. I actually hate that. I have a much better day if I wake up around 9:30 or so.

    Kacey, I think Napoleon slept around 4 hours and, well, he conquered countries and stuff. ;-) But I guess I wouldn't call him exactly normal. LOL!

    Travis, I would be inclined to just stay up a lot later to get things done rather than get up early. I just can't do it. My brain is not awake at all. :-)

    Ah yes, pets. Marty, my cats can't stand to let me sleep in the morning, even if they do have food in their bowl. At least I don't have to get up and walk them. ;-)

    Tess, yes, there is something nice about summer mornings - and spring, for that manner. In the summertime when it gets hot, if you get up early enough around here, that is about the only coolness you'll experience during the day!

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