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Monday 23 June 2014

WordPress Daily Prompt: Sleepy Time

More and more of us go to bed too late because of sleep procrastination. What are the nighttime rituals that keep you up before finally dozing off?
Tabby


“Tabby, do you procrastinate before sleeping.”

“Mrs. Human what is procrastination? I am feline and it does not exist in meow. If we feel the urge to sleep, we sleep. Three circles, sink, eyes closed and no problem. Procrastination is not something that combines with being feline and we have no fixed times. It is all a matter of being feline.”

I suppose Tabby is on the right track, I have never seen a feline that suffers with insomnia or does not find a place to sleep. There are some sleeping places they choose which are beyond my comprehension. A pile of clean washing, on the stones of the patio, sometimes just the arm of a chair, precariously balanced and they are away, or are they. There is always one of the 32 muscles in a cat’s ear that seems to be twitching.

Sleep is today something very precious to my existence. In my younger days, I did not even know that it was a necessity. Go to a party, and arrive home the next morning; somewhere along the line you can fit a few hours’ sleep into life. It is all part of the luxury existence we have.

As the years go by, marriage and having a family occur. There are still happy nights when the night turns into day at a party, but you notice that the body does not enjoy it so much. Try feeding your screaming baby when your eyes are gradually closing with want of sleep, it works but only through maternal instinct. How often would you like to take a nap in the afternoon after dinner, but you should pick the kids up from Kindergarten, or there just might be some ironing to do.

Housework, kids, daily chores – all obstacles put in the way of a sleep and that has absolutely nothing to do with procrastination, it is all a matter of how you cross the bridge of sleeplessness when it arrives.

One day your hair begins to turn grey, whether you dye it or not is your own choice, but it is a sign that sleep is something to do when you want to and not when you have to. I was a working woman for thirty years, so was under the law of getting enough sleep to be able to wake in the morning and go to work. I made some little rules, like being in bed before 11 o’clock in the evening as I could not make a rule when to arise. The company wanted me there latest eight in the morning. As my son had to go to school and the other to work, even then I had to plan my waking hours around the others and so rise and shine at six in the morning to get it all under control.

Mr. Swiss also had no great choice. His work place was an hour away by road and as the Swiss at this time were doing great efforts to improve the road system, there were traffic jams regularly early in the morning. Mr. Swiss would leave around five in the morning to be able to reach his job before the congestion on the motorway was being thought about.

Then the day arrives when Mr. Swiss and Mrs. Angloswiss no longer belong to the work force. They are now unprotected game and can roam and sleep when they feel like it. This, of course, depends on various biological rhythms. Mr. Swiss and I discovered many moons ago that we have no problems together. We have different hobbies, different time tables, and different tastes. This is quite an advantage when you are golden oldies.
You do your own thing and meet now and again to talk about it, life is never boring. Procrastination becomes a foreign word, no longer exists in your dictionary and you can do what you want to do when you want to do it.

My first thought, when retired, I can go to bed when I want to. I can stay up until midnight, watch all those rubbish films that arrive in the late hours, and spend leisure time with Mr. Swiss. Mr. Swiss was always on the late night trip, work permitting, although it often did not. The first evenings of our retired life were spent side by side in an armchair watching TV until the first of us began to drift away into sleepy land. That was usually me. I discovered that sleeping in an armchair, missing half of the film and waking to discover that it was way past midnight was not my cup of tea. I got organised. The result is that since we are both retired I go to bed at least an hour before Mr. Swiss – no problem.

There are people that do not need so much sleep as others. I need sleep, at least eight hours. Mr. Swiss needs less: the result being that whilst I am still in the morning land of thinking about rising, Mr. Swiss is already standing and could even inform if the sun is shining or not. It is a wonder that we meet during the morning.

One thing is definite, we both agree that a midday sleep is rewarding for a golden oldie. We even now block the telephone and our mobiles from 1 o’clock until 3. What you do not hear, does not bother you. If a maintenance man has to come to repair something in the apartment, or otherwise an official visitor:

“Is 2 o’clock OK for you?”

“Err no, could you make it three.”

and the problem is solved.

So in short, there are no night-time rituals that keep me from dozing off. I am particular about my teeth cleaning session, but afterwards I am off in sheet land. When Mr. Swiss arrives I do not know, I might be awake, but not really. It is his problem, not mine.


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4 comments:

  1. I've always been a night-time person, from a very early age. Going to bed earlier than midnight meant lying awake for two or more hours before sleep finally arrived. These days, it works to my advantage, because i do not feel tired when it is time to chat online to Joanne, there being 5 hours difference in time. I usually sllep no more than 5 hours a night. I am also prone to semi-regular bouts of insomnia, where sleep can be even more elusive.

    Pat, are you experiencing any problems with Blogger at the moment? My 'reading list', where all the posts from my friends appear, seems to have disappeared. All I see is the most recent post (which at the moment is this one), under which there is a little 'see more' button, but nothing happens when I click on it. It is most annoying!!

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    1. I have the same problems with blogger at the moment, but as most of my blogging time is spent in WordPress, it is no big problem for me. Most of those I knew from Multiply that came to blogger left after a short time and drifted off to Facebook and Muzenews. I am mainly here for backups and Picture this, otherwise I do not have a lot of feed back, but I see how many "looks" per day I have. Facebook is OK, but I mainly write on my own page or community as it is now known and Muzenews I did not like and now you have to pay. If I pay I prefer it to be my own choice. I pay in WordPress, but that is a different thing altogether. I don't have to, but it is my hobby in a way.

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  2. Never thought I'd read about cats and enjoy it. It's got to be the writing. I'm convinced cats have nothing to do with it. Got to go now, have to feed the cat.

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    1. Thanks for looking in. I have many blogs concerning my three felines. Unfortunatlely one passed away two weeks ago, but she still lives in my blogs.

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