Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Insomnia
I envy my husband and younger son. For each of them, I'd wager that the average timespan between lights out and deep, satisfying sleep is no more than 96 seconds.
The other half of our family is not nearly so lucky. Max is plagued by sleep difficulties, and I can sympathize. For many years, I used to lie awake scrolling through an endless list of worries, occasionally peeking at the clock to calibrate just how little rest I might eke out before sun-up.
What gets in Max's way is hard to say, beyond that he can't keep his body still and his mouth closed long enough to drift off. In my experience, it is awfully hard to fall asleep while walking or talking.
I've tallied thousands of imaginary sheep in my day, sometimes with success, so this evening I suggested that Max try counting to two hundred. From the room next door, here's what I overheard in rapid staccato:
"Ten, twenty, thirty, forty...
Ninety, one hundred, one hundred and ten...
Three hundred forty, three hundred fifty, three hundred sixty...
Seven hundred twenty, seven hundred thirty, seven hundred forty...
Nine hundred eighty, nine hundred ninety, a BILLION!
Mommy, I counted to a BILLION and I'm STILL not asleep!"
The other half of our family is not nearly so lucky. Max is plagued by sleep difficulties, and I can sympathize. For many years, I used to lie awake scrolling through an endless list of worries, occasionally peeking at the clock to calibrate just how little rest I might eke out before sun-up.
What gets in Max's way is hard to say, beyond that he can't keep his body still and his mouth closed long enough to drift off. In my experience, it is awfully hard to fall asleep while walking or talking.
I've tallied thousands of imaginary sheep in my day, sometimes with success, so this evening I suggested that Max try counting to two hundred. From the room next door, here's what I overheard in rapid staccato:
"Ten, twenty, thirty, forty...
Ninety, one hundred, one hundred and ten...
Three hundred forty, three hundred fifty, three hundred sixty...
Seven hundred twenty, seven hundred thirty, seven hundred forty...
Nine hundred eighty, nine hundred ninety, a BILLION!
Mommy, I counted to a BILLION and I'm STILL not asleep!"
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