I have moved over to WhittereronAutism.com. Please follow the link to find me there. Hope to see you after the jump! :)

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Sleepless in San Jose



The trouble with sleeping pills, amongst many other things, is they are not dispensed in hourly doses. [translation = one pill induces 8 hours of sleep] If the standard eight hours of sleep are not available to you this means that you will spend between 3 and 4 hours, vertical but in a fog.




One solution to this problem [sorry – challenge] is to ensure that the parent sleeps when the child [ren] do. If the child [ren] sleep for 8 to 9 hours, then this would be the ideal time for the parent to do likewise. I acknowledge the sense in this approach, but fail to observe it. [translation = ignore it] Instead I choose to spend approximately 4 hours from 8ish to midnight ish, awake and child free.


The net result of such a choice is that after my head has been horizontal for about 4 or five hours, I am suddenly forced to be vertical again, as they all wake up at that hour in the morning. [translation = rats to Daylight Saving] ‘Well more fool you’ I hear you cry. ‘You should pay more attention to your bio-rhythms dearie!’ and as usual you’d be completely right, although I’d prefer the message without the psychobabble. [translation = if you provide me with that option]


No, as I see it, the solution is twofold;
1. Ban Daylight Saving [translation = far too radical and likely to cause lots of car accidents]
2. Manufacturers should produce sleeping pills in hourly doses. [translation = cheaper and would reduce the suicide rate by 99% overnight {sub translation = or in the daytime depending upon when the crisis of conscience occurs}]
Studies have shown that……oh we won’t bother with them. I just need more REM sleep. [translation = red is my favourite colour afterall]


Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to nip off and clean the bifocals, as I believe that may be a contributing factor to the fog. [NB it would be a good idea to remove the ear plugs too]

3 comments:

The Jedi Family of Blogs said...

I do exactly the same thing. Those few hours (mine is approx. 9:30 to midnight) are my "off-call" time & I cherish it. I don't usually miss the sleep during the summertime because we don't get up as early... this year I have not transitioned back into schooltime sleeping patterns & I can relate to the sleep deprivation, but the time on my own is just too wonderful.

B has also had a history of getting up anywhere from 4:00-6:00 am, so we had to make a rule that he couldn't get out of bed until 6:00 (we keep a flashlight, books, & magazines by his bed), which didn't kick-in until he could tell time, of course. Then we had to make a list of the preferred acitivites for the time before mom gets up... for example, no legos, as riffling through the bins for the right part is much too loud (not to mention the sound effects from playing with the finished creations). Mostly he goes into the tv room (right next to his bedroom) & watches something quietly, or plays a computer game in his room with the headphones on. Asking a kid who tics noisily to be quiet can be problematic, but he does try, & he seems to be learning to be aware of his environment (& what's happening in it) because of our continuing morningtime negotiations...

AshleyLeo said...

I hereby pronounce you Chairperson of the NIH, CDC, and FDA.

AshleyLeo said...

And I'm not kidding!

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button